Guns carrier loses appeal

Holidaymaker fails in bid to have five- year jail term reduced

A holidaymaker who was jailed for bringing stun guns into Scotland has failed in his attempt to have his prison sentence reduced.

Niall Dinsmore, 28, was given a fiveyear sentence in October 2016 after being caught at Edinburgh Airport the previous year with five weapons disguised as torches.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Dinsmore, of Bansbridge, Northern Ireland, was also caught at the airport with five batons as he returned from holiday with his girlfriend, Kerri Luff, from Dundee.

The court heard that he planned to keep one of the stun guns and give the rest away to friends and family.

Judge Lord Boyd jailed Dinsmore for five years.

Legislation governing the use of firearms states that offenders caught with such weapons should receive an automatic five-year term unless there are “exceptional circumstances” in the case.

His lawyers argued that there were exceptional circumstances in Dinsmore’s case and that he should receive a reduced sentence.

However, Lord Boyd rejected the exceptional circumstances argument.

Dinsmore’s lawyers returned to the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh to argue that Lord Boyd had misunderstood the law when he made his decision.

However, appeal judges Lady Clark of Carlton and Lord Turnbull ruled that their colleague had acted correctly.

In a written judgment issued yesterday, Lady Clark stated: “We consider that the sentencing judge gave very careful consideration to the question whether there were exceptional circumstances in the context of the statutory provisions.

“We are not persuaded that he was clearly wrong and indeed we consider that he was correct in his conclusion and his reasoning.

“We consider that he gave weight to the mitigating features by imposing a minimum sentence.

“For these reasons, the appeal is refused.”

Dinsmore admitted illegal firearm possession last year. He was held at Edinburgh Airport on August 31 2015 as he returned from Bulgaria with Ms Luff.

The court heard that he bought the weapons as presents as he thought they were unusual.

Niall Dinsmore was caught at Edinburgh Airport.