A man caught ferrying illegal guns between two housing schemes in Glasgow has been allowed to walk free from court.

Detectives stopped Alexander Naismith's car on the M8 as he returned to Drumchapel with a rifle, shotgun, telescopic sights and a silencer hidden in a golf bag.

They also found a radio scanner stolen from Strathclyde Fire Brigade tuned into the frequency used by the police.

Lord Macfadyen agreed to defer sentence on Naismith, 24, for a year and said that community service might be imposed later.

He was told that Naismith has already spent six months in prison and the case would have been dealt with earlier but for the ill health of the judge by whom it was originally heard.

Car boot sale

Advocate depute Jamie Gilchrist said that on 30 July last year the Serious Crime squad received information that Naismith would be travelling to Easterhouse to obtain guns.

Naismith claimed he did not know who they belonged to and that he was collecting them for a friend.

A search of his home later turned up another stolen scanner, which he said at first had been bought at a car boot sale.

Defence solicitor-advocate Murray Macara said Naismith very single-minded ambition had been to join the fire service, but his applications were rejected.

"He is absolutely obsessed with the fire brigade," he said, adding that he was a member of a fire brigade society and had memorablia such as helmets and bells.

He said that Naismith normally kept the radio in his car tuned into the fire service frequency, but if it was quiet he would switch to the police.

The accused said he was simply asked to travel from Drumchapel to Easterhouse to collect a set of golf clubs.

Judge's warning

It was only when he arrived at his destination that he learned there were guns as well, he maintained.

Lord Macfadyen added: "I hope that you know that the court has to deal seriously with any offence involving firearms."

"Normally there would be no question but that I would send you to prison for a period," he said.

The judge added that taking into account the amount of time Naismith had already spent in prison and the information put before him he was prepared to defer sentence on him for a year.