Man is jailed after buying stun gun at Barras market for £40
A MAN who bought a stun gun disguised as a mobile phone from a famous Glasgow market has been jailed for almost four years.
Brian Little, of Kirkoswald Drive, North Drumry bought the weapon over the counter at the Barras market for £40 and claimed that he originally went in to buy a hat.
The firearm was discovered when police searched Little’s car following a drugs raid, in which 60 cannabis plants were found growing in his home.
Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard last Wednesday that 41-year-old Little committed the offences between June 8 and October 15, 2017, when he was snared with 60 cannabis plants.
Depute fiscal Martina McGuigan said officers attended his home on October 15 last year and found the cannabis factory, with the plants yielding potentially £12,000 worth of drugs.
Defence solicitor Michael Poggi told the court a social worker background report on Little was “frank and in useful terms”.
Mr Poggi said: “His job remains open, despite the fact he faces a lengthy custodial sentence.
“His employer is in court to lend his support.
“He stupidly bought the stun gun on a whim to protect his family. He did not know that it was a firearm and says he had no intention of using it.
“He appeared shocked when he realised it was classed as a firearm. He purchased it in a moment of panic.
“It is described as being a non-lethal self-defence device.
“He had gone to the Barras market to buy a hat, which he bought for £5, and while he was at the stall, the stall holder told him of other things he had available, which included a stun gun disguised as an Apple iPhone. He bought it for £40.
“He was at his wits’ end. He only ever intended it to be a deterrent.
“As for the cannabis, he has desisted from using cannabis since the discovery of the cannabis cultivation.”
After viewing the firearm, Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told Little: “I am not going to get your hopes up; there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
Because of his early pleas, sentences were reduced and Little was sentenced to a total of 45 months in jail.
Family members in the public benches broke down in tears as they left the courtroom.