An Angus laird designed a makeshift shotgun in a desperate attempt to stop crows eating his pig feed.
Faulty air rifles and a pistol dating back to the early 1900s were also discovered following a police raid on the more than 40-acre Gagiewell Estate in Kellas, owned by Stephen Mellor.
The 43-year-old is now awaiting sentence after he admitted illegally possessing the weapons before being caught with a military-issue knife outside a Spar shop.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard the discoveries were made after a former friend raised concerns about Mellor’s “rambling” and “goading” WhatsApp messages.
Mellor – who was sentenced to more than two years in prison in 2015 for domestic offences – sent a video of himself using the smooth bore “slam fire” shotgun he had designed.
Like Mellor, the friend served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, which maintains the equipment of the British Army, and was very familiar with weaponry.
Fiscal depute Rachel Hill said: “On September 3 2023, the accused sent a video of him firing the shotgun.
“The witness observed this as a homemade gun which is illegal.
“The witness did not report it at the time.
“The accused continued to exchange WhatsApp messages with him which became increasingly strange, rambling and goading.
“Due to the video and the accused’s behaviour, the witness reported the incident to police via online contact form.”
Firearms officers were briefed and Mellor was found in the car park of Spar, Kellas in possession of a military-issue lock knife.
Police search
Gagie Castle, where he resides, was systematically searched and the “slam” gun was found in an underground chamber in a rifle bag with a rope tied to the drain.
Tests were carried out on the weapon with ballistics experts ruling that it “could prove hazardous” to anyone firing it.
Two air rifles recovered were found to be “corrosive” and the search also uncovered pellets and an antique German pistol.
Mellor pled guilty to three charges of possessing the smooth bore slam fire shotgun without holding a shotgun certificate, possessing three air weapons without a certificate and having a knife between August 25 and October 2 2023.
Gun made to scare crows
Solicitor Jim Caird said Mellor keeps pigs and sheep on the estate as well as operating a firewood business and letting others shoot on his land.
“He wanted to make a bird scarer and was thinking of various ways to do this,” Mr Caird told Sheriff Paul Ralph.
“He manufactured items out of steel. He has skills in this area.
“He was aware of this type of very primitive gun and could use it to fire blank cartridges to make a noise and scare birds.
“Crows were taking feed that he was putting down for the pigs and over the years he was thinking of a way to scare them effectively.
“He went ahead with trying to do this and eventually made the gun itself.”
Mr Caird said the gun was not for an “offensive purpose” and said there was no suggestion of him taking any weaponry off the estate.
The lawyer highlighted his own online research where blank shot cartridges can be bought on Amazon for £2 and added the knife was a “sheep’s foot blade” for farm work.
Underground storage concerns
Sheriff Ralph voiced his concerns about the rifle bag being concealed underground but Mr Caird insisted this was not a nefarious act.
He said Mellor stored other items, including bales, in the chamber because of “early Victorian” water works which run through the estate.
Mellor bought the estate in 2013 after selling his engineering business and was previously hit with an enforcement notice by Angus Council in 2017.
Sentence was deferred on Mellor until April for a social work report to be prepared and his bail was allowed to continue.
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