By Brian Smith and Bruce Robbins

TAYSIDE POLICE last night issued a warning about the potential dangers of replica firearms after a teenager was fined £330 at Dundee Sheriff Court for having a £5 imitation gun in a public place.

Kristopher Batt (17) bought the Glock BB replica pistol in a joke shop but found that it was no laughing matter.

Batt, of Craichie, by Forfar, admitted having the gun on July 12 at Seagate Bus Station, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse in a public place, contrary to the Firearms Act.

He also admitted committing the offence while on bail.

Passengers waiting to board the bus became aware of the accused and another person at about 1.15pm.

Solicitor Advocate Jack Brown said, “One of the passengers saw the accused pull up his T-shirt and at that point saw the BB gun in the waistband of his trousers. He pulled out the gun, cocked it and then replaced it in the waistband.”

When Batt repeated the action a short time later, the fiscal said one of the passengers left the queue and contacted police.

The accused was still in the area when the officers arrived and he handed over the gun and a quantity of yellow plastic pellets.

Mr Brown argued that his client appeared on “an extremely technical offence,” and had not been charged with a breach of the peace by causing fear and alarm to others by brandishing the gun at the bus station.

“Many young people will have them as toys,” Mr Brown said.

“It was his intention to go to an open area and have toy fights with the gun.

“This is not a situation where he went out intending to commit any type of offence whatsoever,” he added.

Sheriff Elizabeth Munro interrupted to ask, “Why was he taking it out of his waistband?”

Mr Brown said, “Effectively, he was playing with it.

“He is 17 and was with his younger brother.”

Sheriff Munro told Batt, “This is a very serious matter but, in the circumstances, I am prepared to treat you as a stupid young man.”

She fined him £330 and ordered the gun to be forfeited.

Tayside Police cautioned that all firearms are capable of causing serious injury and BB guns should not be mistaken as toys.

A spokeswoman said, “They can cause just as much fear and alarm as the real thing.

“They have the very real potential to cause injury if fired at somebody at close range.

“Another significant danger is that, at a distance, such weapons can, on occasions, be indistinguishable from a real firearm, even to the expert’s eye, which could lead to armed police officers being deployed to tackle what they believe to be an armed and dangerous individual.

“Parents should be aware that, where we do receive reports of potential firearms incidents, a decision could be taken to deploy firearms officers to that incident to protect the public.

“The use of replica guns is an extremely dangerous practice and anyone using an imitation firearm is committing an extremely serious offence.

“I cannot stress strongly enough the potential dangers of such weapons and I would encourage parents not to buy BB or any type of pellet guns for their children.”