A neighbour dispute led to police discovering a Perth man had almost 200 more bullets in his home than he was allowed.
A routine check by police dealing with another matter revealed Anthony Herd had 493 rounds of .22 ammunition in the property. He was licensed to hold 300.
Fiscal depute Michael Kerr told Perth Sheriff Court: “The offence came to light after police had cause to speak to the accused on an unrelated matter.
“The accused is the holder of a firearms certificate and was allowed to have 300 bullets, but was found to have 493.”
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, said Herd held his weapons for hunting purposes and had accumulated the extra bullets by accident.
She said: “There was some dispute with neighbours which resulted in police attendance.
“As Mr Herd is a licence holder the automatically carried out a check of his weapons.
“The certificates are still in place and the firearms have since been returned to him, so police have no ongoing concerns.
“He uses his guns for shooting rabbits and the like. Due to adverse weather he had not used his firearms and by error he had acquired excess ammunition.”
Herd, 62, of Langside Road, Perth, admitted possessing 493 bullets in his home on January 18 last year, 193 more than his firearms certificate allowed.
Sheriff Keith O’Mahoney fined him £600 and the excess bullets were forfeited.
