Man who imported handguns from Spain jailed for 27 months

A Fife man who imported two handguns from the continent was jailed for 27 months when he appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday.

John Stewart, 33, was found with one of the weapons at his home and a second was intercepted on its way to his address from Spain.

Lord Turnbull told Stewart: “They can fall into the wrong hands all too easily and they can then be used to commit the most serious offences with terrible consequences for members of the public.”

The judge told Stewart that he was fortunate that the gun found at his home was not thought to fall into the category of weapon that attracted a minimum sentence of at least five years’ imprisonment.

Lord Turnbull told Stewart, formerly of Cook Street, in Dysart, that a custodial sentence was inevitable.

The court heard that intelligence was received by the Organised Crime Partnership, made up of officers from Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency, that a firearm had been purchased from a Spanish website and forwarded to Stewart.

The Border Force alerted a courier firm to make checks for further packages being sent to his address.

On May 31 this year a package destined for his home was spotted at a distribution centre and found to contain an Atak pistol.

During searches at Stewart’s home and at a vehicle a further firearm was discovered, which was found to have been altered to allow for live firing of projectiles.

Stewart denied that anyone gave him money to buy the weapon or that he was planning to sell it.