Tack-row solicitor charged with sabotaging cycling event loses gun licence

A SOLICITOR charged with sabotaging a mass cycling event has had his gun licence revoked after being branded a potential danger to the public.

Tayside Chief Constable Justine Curran took away Alexander Grosset's right to keep firearms in the run-up to this year's staging of the event next month.

Last year's Etape Caledonia was marred by an act of sabotage that left hundreds of cyclists with tyres punctured by carpet tacks.

Grosset was arrested in the wake of the incident and charged with sabotage. He appeared at Perth Sheriff Court, but the case was dropped and Grosset, from Bridge of Gaur, Perthshire, was formally cleared of any involvement.

In papers lodged at the same court, the chief constable said she believed Grosset was "no longer a suitable person to hold a firearms certificate".

She said his gun licence had been revoked after Tayside Police had taken account of the potential for "danger to the public or to the peace".

Curran justified the action by outlining the circumstances leading to Grosset's arrest in May last year, which was sparked by a Rotary Club lunch, during which he

was heard to suggest someone should throw tacks on the road. A search of his home failed to find a quantity of tacks that should have been there.

Yesterday, Grosset – who has consistently denied any wrongdoing and is fighting to get his gun licence restored – laughed off suggestions that he posed any danger to the public. He admitted making comments about tacks at the Rotary lunch, but said: "You say something ridiculous and people take it seriously. I did not do this thing and was not party to it."

Grosset, a former gun club secretary in Fife, said he expected to meet the chief constable in court in September when the case is due to be heard.

Curran declined to comment.