A “spaced out” reveller visited a Moray police station after a party – with a revolver tucked in his waistband and a bag of cocaine in his pocket.
Glen Dingwall was jailed for eight months when he appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday.
The Forres 22-year-old claimed to have no idea of how he came to own the pistol when police quizzed him.
The court heard that his troubles began while he was walking home from a social gathering in Elgin along the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness route on Friday, June 10.
At around 9am, the wing mirror of a delivery van clipped the accused between Elgin and Alves.
The court heard that the van driver had not been at fault, and that the worried man rushed out to check on Dingwall.
Fiscal depute Fraser Matheson said: “The circumstances in which this matter came to light are somewhat unusual.
“The accused was walking along the A96 when he was involved in a minor collision with a delivery van.
“The driver went to see if the accused was OK, and later said that he thought Dingwall was unsteady on his feet and seemed ‘spaced out’.”
The driver took the accused to Forres police station to report the details of the incident.
When there, constables became wary that Dingwall was “under the influence of some substance” and directed him to an interview room.
The fiscal added: “At that point, the driver noticed a pistol protruding from the rear of the accused’s trouser waistband.
“Police seized the weapon, but Dingwall told them it was only a BB gun.
“A police officer who had served with the armed forces then identified it as a deactivated black powder revolver.”
The fiscal said police later discovered that the weapon could not be discharged.
When officers searched Dingwall, they found 3.3 grams of cocaine, worth a street value of up to £170.
Dingwall, of 7 Hannings House in Forres, admitted charges of having an imitation firearm and of possessing cocaine.
His solicitor, Mike Chapman, said his client had bought the drugs for the party but that he had “little recollection” of how he came to possess the firearm.
Mr Chapman added: “It is quite clear he had no intention to use it for any nefarious purpose.”
He said Dingwall was a “polite young man”, who had worked to turn his life around since being placed in custody following his arrest last month.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov ordered the accused to forfeit the pistol, and sentenced him to eight months in jail. This was backdated to June 13, when he was first locked up.
