Retired consultant ‘had 3 machine guns in house’
Laptop was used to search for ‘how to kill someone’, court told
‘I’ll show you what I’ve got’
A FORMER consultant caught with a haul of firearms searched the internet for information about killing, a court heard yesterday.
Three Skorpion submachine guns, two pistols and ammunition were among the weaponry found by police at the home of Martin Watt, 62.
When officers examined his laptop, they found he had looked online for pages about ‘how to kill someone’.
The High Court in Glasgow heard that Watt had been dismissed from his job as a consultant in medicine at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
He denies using submachine guns and pistols to endanger life between March 2013 and May 2017. Watt has admitted to having in his possession most of the firearms found by police at his house.
Paperwork relating to his dismissal was also said to have been found by police searching his home, as was an envelope containing names and addresses of people linked to Watt’s disciplinary process – it was marked ‘bad guys’. PC Scott McLeod was one of the officers who went to Watt’s home in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, with a firearms warrant on May 18 last year. He told the court Watt said ‘I will show you what I have got’, and led them to a bedroom.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice told the court that between May 18 and 20 last year, police searching Watt’s home recovered a number of items.
He listed various firearms, ammunition and other items found in the search – including three Skorpion submachine guns and two selfloading pistols.
Mr Prentice said Watt’s laptop was examined and 656 images were found, including pictures of firearms, firearm parts, diagrams relating to the making of explosive devices and photos of people.
He said the internet history revealed searches on individuals involved in Watt’s dismissal hearings, how to kill someone and how to break someone’s neck.
PC McLeod was shown an envelope with ‘bad guys’ written on it that had been recovered. It contained names and addresses, PC McLeod said, and some of these related to Watt’s dismissal.
The officer also said that an iPhone had been taken from Watt’s house and information downloaded from the device.
He told the court that photographs of a number of vehicles and registration numbers were recovered.
PC McLeod also said a recipe detailing how to make gunpowder had been stored.
Earlier, jurors had heard that the iPhone ‘was found to contain emails, iPhone notes, web bookmarks, images and a video relating to firearms, ammunition, people involved in the accused’s dismissal hearing and car registration numbers’.
PC McLeod said that some of the car registrations had been linked to doctors or members of NHS Lanarkshire staff.
The trial, before judge Lady Stacey, continues.