Criminal said firearm was 'ornamental'

A VIOLENT criminal who was caught with a gun by police firearms officers has had a life sentence quashed by appeal judges after prosecution authorities conceded it was incompetent.

Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh instead sentenced Stephen Henderson, 35, who has been in jail since August 2008, to 40 months' imprisonment for the offence.

Henderson was detained at the Novotel at Hermiston Gait, in Edinburgh, in August 2008 after Fife drug squad received information that he was intent on acquiring a firearm.

Police found a sock containing a black revolver in the waistband of the jeans of Henderson who was previously jailed for abduction and serious assault.

He later admitted an offence under the Firearms Act which carries a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment when he appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The court heard that Henderson had been released from prison in March 2008 and had run up a debt and brought the weapon up from Yorkshire to clear it off.

Henderson earlier told police that the gun was "ornamental" and not capable of firing ammunition. The weapon was found to be a blank firing pistol which had been converted so that it could fire 9mm rounds.