Ex-soldier '˜forgot' he had military grade ammo in his garage

Former lance-corporal Steven Brunton, of Seafield in Edinburgh, had 17 rounds of ammo designed for submachine guns, pistols and carbines.

The 41-year-old was jailed for 14 months yesterday having pled guilty to being in possession of the ammo without a firearms certificate.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Sheriff Peter Braid was told Brunton had been a lance-corporal in the Royal Engineers and in 2001 was acting as an escort for two soldiers at a court martial when one of the men told him he had live ammo and asked him to take it away as he was in enough trouble as it was.

Defence solicitor, Hannah Short, said Brunton had intended to hand the ammo in to the Armoury, but had ended up taking it with him when he left the service. Since then it had been in a locked box in his garage and he had forgotten about it.

Sheriff Braid told Brunton that it had been a significant amount of ammunition. The public, he added, would expect a custodial sentence as a punishment and deterrent.