Rail worker who tried to smuggle gun is jailed

A MAN caught trying to smuggle a gun into Scotland was yesterday jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Craig Samson came under surveillance when US Homeland Security intercepted a package containing a music speaker with a Glock handgun hidden inside at Newark Airport, in New Jersey, in March last year.

It had been addressed to his home in Baillieston, Glasgow.

The 33-year-old rail worker was caught after officials replaced the parcel with a second package containing a listening device and camera to discover who had ordered the original.

It recorded Samson telling his wife: ‘Quick… I think this is the G-U-N’ and filmed him peering into the speaker after trying to prise it open.

Samson was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after pleading guilty to attempting to import the gun into the UK without lawful authority.

The court was told he became interested in firearms after visiting a shooting range while on holiday in Thailand and had wanted a gun as a ‘souvenir’.

Lady Stacey told him: ‘If you had an interest in this hobby, you should have joined a club in this country.’

Samson also admitted possessing £2,800 worth of cocaine found at his home.

Ronnie Renucci, defending, said Samson had not intended the gun to be used for ‘any other criminal purpose’.