A man who bought a stun gun disguised as a mobile phone to play practical jokes on friends has been fined £1500.
Callum Flood, 24, was ordered to pay the sum following a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Flood, of Mossgiel Place, Dundee had pleaded guilty at the High Court in April 2012 to illegally possessing a firearm in May 2011, an offence that under the Firearms Act carries a minimum mandatory five year prison sentence.
But judge Lord Brodie decided to spare him prison because he was convinced that there were exceptional circumstances in the case.
Flood was originally detained by police after they were called to a house in Dundee following an altercation. He was restrained and handcuffed and an officer asked him if he had anything which could cause harm and he replied: “No”.
He was searched and an item that appeared to be a mobile phone was found in a pocket of his jeans but an onlooker called out that it was a stun gun.
At the earlier hearing, Lord Brodie said: “The policy here is that people are to be deterred from possessing firearms or any weapon which can be regarded as a firearm. In the current case I have come to the conclusion that exceptional circumstances do exist. In particular I have had regard to the fact that this was a non lethal weapon. It is a harmful weapon but the harm it can achieve is limited.
“Your intention, which I accept, was to use it as a means of carrying out practical jokes and indeed you had tested it already on yourself.”
Lord Brodie said he also accepted that Flood did not understand that possessing the weapon was unlawful.
Flood, who had been drinking, had been at a party at a friend’s house before heading to his girlfriend’s home. He said that he had paid a friend £10 for the weapon and said that they had been “zapping” each other.
He added: “I thought it was a toy. I just bought it from a friend as I was leaving the party. I thought it would be a good practical joke.”