A joiner who was jailed for more than three years after being caught with a one million volt stun gun has died in prison.
Christopher Nicol was sentenced to 40 months behind bars in October last year after being discovered with an illicit weapon he had purchased from website Wish.
Nicol, 41, was found dead inside HMP Castle Huntly on Friday.
The death is not being treated as suspicious.
The Scottish Prison Service said the death has been reported to the Procurator Fiscal and a fatal accident inquiry will be held in due course.
Mandatory five-year sentence
At Dundee Sheriff Court, Nicol was sentenced to the mandatory minimum five year prison sentence – reduced to 40 months for an early guilty plea – for having a stun gun which was disguised as a torch.
Sheriff Tom Hughes said he had no option but to jail Nicol.
He said: “The law is quite clear. There are very clear guidelines.
“Anyone involved in this type of offending will be dealt with seriously.
“There is good reason for that.
“Having possession of this is a dangerous situation and the court is sending out a very clear message that anyone caught will be dealt with seriously.
“The statutory maximum sentence is ten years and the minimum is five years.”
Call for ban
Stun guns – which can fire up to one million volts and are 20 times more powerful than police Tasers – are being openly sold online for less than £20.
Solicitor Ross Donnelly, defending Nicol, said: “This is something you can get on Ebay or Wish and simply purchase like a pair of trainers or a T-shirt.”
Addressing Nicol, Sheriff Hughes called on web companies to obey the law and remove banned weapons from open sale.
“As your solicitor said, you were only two clicks away from ordering this item.
“We can’t allow people in society to go with two clicks and be able to get their hands on really serious weapons that are prohibited by the Firearms Act.
“That situation has got to be addressed.”
Nicol was also caught with nearly 2,000 diazepam tablets and a fifth of a kilo of cannabis, which he claimed were for his personal use, in his Dundee flat and his car.
Nicol, of Clova Road, Kirriemuir, admitted having the two stun gun devices disguised as torches in his Subaru Impreza at Logie Business Park in Kirriemuir on May 18, 2018.
He also admitted having cannabis, cannabis resin and diazepam.
