No jail time for gun enthusiast
Collector must undertake community service
A shaven- headed gun collector who kept a £ 6000 stash of weapons and ammunition in his loft is to destroy the lot.
George Faulds, 50, had five rifles in his attack when police arrived at his home in Dalmilling, Ayr.
The collection of deactivated antique firearms, including vintage flintlock guns, were stored in his attic in Westwood Avenue.
Lord Bannatyne ordered the vehicle recovery driver to carry out 300 hours of community service.
The judge, sentencing at Livingston on Monday, added: “You have undertaken to hand in to the police your entire gun collection for destruction by the police, and they will be destroyed.”
Outside court, a relieved Faulds said that the remainder of the firearms seized were mainly ornamental and had all been deactivated.
He had believed that only one rifle and the ammunition were subject to restrictions under Firearms Act 1968.
However, two of the air rifles he had fell foul of the new firearms laws by a narrow margin because of their power.
However, Faulds accepted that he did not have the firearm, shotgun or dealership certificate required by law for ownership of the weapons for which he was prosecuted.
Police caught Faulds with the illegal rifles and ammunition when they searched his home on May 14 last year following a tip- off.
Faulds admitted to officers that there were firearms in the house and directed them to the loft.
There they found a BSA air rifle, an HW80 air rifle and an HW100 air rifle.
A Browning .22 rifle and a .22 rifle were found in a box underneath a bedroom window.
All the rifles were tested and found to be in working order.
A tub of .22 rimfire bulleted cartridges was also found in a drawer in the bedroom.
The prosecution conceded earlier that the majority of the firearms and ammunition recovered were exempt from Firearms Certificate Control.