A Fife man who made online searches for the Dunblane atrocity and bought a gun and 100 rounds of ammunition has been warned he faces a “substantial” jail term.
James Maxwell used cryptocurrency to fund the purchase of a Glock pistol and bullets to be delivered to his home address from the USA.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard Maxwell, from Leven, was caught red-handed in a cross-Atlantic police sting.
American law enforcement officers, who were examining outbound packages in the US mailing system, intercepted the parcel.
The Glock 17 handgun and magazine were found hidden inside a household electronic device, along with two boxes of ammunition.
The US authorities alerted Police Scotland and a package with the electronic device and boxes for the gun and bullets were put into the mail after the firearm and ammunition were removed.
Maxwell, 28, took delivery of the package at a house in Henderson Park, Windygates, on January 11 this year.
Police armed with a search warrant raided the address and found Maxwell wearing blue latex gloves, with the parcel in his bedroom.
Advocate depute Richard Goddard KC said: “A laptop was found open and in use in the bedroom.
“It had a PDF file saved on it which was an instruction manual for a Glock pistol.”
Worrying search history
During an interview Maxwell told police that in October last year his mental health worsened and he began feeling suicidal and researched how to source a firearm.
He admitted that in December he paid £1,000 for the gun and ammunition.
Mr Goddard said: “He stated that prior to the delivery of the package he was no longer suicidal but made no effort to cancel the order as he assumed that as he had paid for it, he had to receive it.”
The prosecutor said after the laptop was examined searches were found regarding suicide.
Mr Goddard added: “However, other searches included ‘primary school in Glasgow’, ‘Dunblane school massacre’ and ‘when do schools break up for Christmas 2022’.”
Mr Goddard said the Glock pistol bought by unemployed Maxwell was in good condition and in full working order.
“The ammunition purchased by the accused amounted to 100 rounds of 9mm hollow pointed bulleted cartridges.
“This type of ammunition is designed to deform on impact, increasing the surface area of the bullet and causing increased injury.”
Police also found that Maxwell had saved a sexually explicit video of a young, underage girl performing sex acts and images of bestiality.
He also made internet searches including ’13-year-old boy’ and ‘cute 14-year-olds’.
‘Excessive’ number of bullets
The Dunblane school tragedy happened on March 13 1996 when gunman Thomas Hamilton entered the town’s primary school and shot dead 16 children and a teacher before killing himself.
Defence counsel Jonathan Crowe told the court that Maxwell bought the gun for “suicidal purposes”.
He said: “I can advise – and there is no dispute – there is no other information or evidence pointing to any sinister motives of Mr Maxwell to do anything with this weapon in relation to primary schools.”
Judge Lord Ericht said he noted the defence position but added: “However, I have to say at this stage, I also note that 100 bullets were bought which would seem to be an excessive number for suicide purposes.
“This type of ammunition was designed to deform on impact.”
The judge also pointed out the other school-related internet searches.
He deferred sentence on the first offender for the preparation of a background report and remanded him in custody after indicating a substantial prison sentence is the likely outcome.
The charges
Maxwell, currently a prisoner in Perth, admitted six charges when he appeared in court on Wednesday.
He pled guilty to purchasing and attempting to acquire a prohibited weapon between December 1 last year and January 11 this year.
He also admitted committing the offence without holding a firearms certificate.
He admitted buying and attempting to acquire and possess the ammunition and attempting to import the firearm and bullets without lawful authority.
He further pled guilty to possessing the child abuse video between April 22 last year and January 11 this year and possessing extreme pornographic images involving animals.
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