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Comment by qup | Hacker News Reader

He was found guilty of owning an improvised firearm that he maintains he had nothing to do with

Right. But as the article tells it, it wasn't even found in his possession; it was found with a bunch of junk in a park, along with some of his mail. Apparently his DNA was on it but then they admit there was doubt about how conclusive that was. I'm just amazed that that kind of shaky evidence could result in a 5 year prison sentence.

All that aside, what the hell is a pipe gun? What exactly did they find? A length of PVC...

https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/homeless-man-livi...

From the image, that does not look to be PVC but a metal pipe. It is possible to create a firearm from a pipe that can fire shotgun shells. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJUtEnCLVUI

It's definitely plastic. It's also of a much greater diameter than a shotgun shell. And, it doesn't resemble at all the device in that video.

That aside, the fact that it's possible can make a firearm from a pipe, doesn't seem to me to mean that someone should do 5 years in prison... for possibly having touched a pipe... found in a pile of junk.

Either there is more to this or something went seriously wrong here legally

That's what he was found guilty. It's not what he did.

What he did was embarrass the system. That's what the prison sentence was for.

The piece of PVC pipe found in a junk pile.elsewhere in the park was just the excuse they pointed at.

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