Judges disagree over sentence for gun owning grandmother

TWO of Scotland's most senior judges have disagreed over whether a grandmother should have to serve a five-year jail sentence for possessing a gun, her late father's trophy of war.

Gail Cochrane, 53, had been given the prison term after she failed to persuade a court that there were "exceptional circumstances" in her case.

A plea to reverse that decision was made to two judges in the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh yesterday, but Lord Clarke and Lord Hardie took differing views, and they said the case would have to be reheard by a three-judge bench.

In June last year, police went to Cochrane's home to look for her son who had failed to attend a court hearing. They found a German military weapon, a 7.65mm Browning self-loading pistol manufactured in 1941, under a mattress, and Cochrane explained she had inherited the gun about 29 years ago when her father died.

Cochrane admitted possessing the pistol without holding a firearms certificate or having the permission of Scottish ministers.

The offence carried a mandatory five-year jail term, unless a judge was satisfied there were exceptional circumstances which allowed for a more lenient sentence.

Earlier this year, Lady Smith heard evidence and ruled that there were no exceptional circumstances, and she imposed the mandatory term on Cochrane, who served six weeks in custody before being freed to await yesterday's appeal hearing.

The defence solicitor-advocate, Iain Paterson, argued to the appeal court that Lady Smith had been mistaken and that exceptional circumstances did exist.

"It can be said that the gun innocently came into her possession, and the period it remained in her possession is extremely significant. It was not unlawfully used for nearly three decades. There was no ammunition with this weapon and no evidence it had been discharged."

Lord Hardie pointed out that guns appeared to have become the "weapons of choice" of criminals, and the thinking behind the firearms legislation was to encourage law-abiding people who happened to have trophies of war or the like to hand them in, so they would not fall into the hands of criminals.

Lords Clarke and Hardie had a private discussion about their ruling, and Lord Clarke then announced: "The court is unable to reach agreement and the case will have to be referred to three judges for consideration."