A gun owner has had his weapons seized after being caught with indecent pictures of girls on his mobile phone.
Colin Mackenzie’s Tullibody home was searched after he took his mobile into a Vodafone shop to ask for help transfering data from an old mobile.
Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that an assistant manager noticed “images of concern” and contacted police.
Officers were waiting for him when he returned to the outlet in the Thistles Centre, Stirling, on August 12, 2020.
Police found 25 separate photos of young girls on his device, and a six-minute “video montage” of girls aged aged six to 12 performing gymnastics.
Prosecutor Kristina Kelly said: “The video shows a gymnastics routine, at times zooming in on numerous young female gymnasts.”
There were other indecent images of female children. Police then raided Mackenzie’s home in Ramsey Tullis Drive, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire.
His gun cabinet – in a wardrobe in a bedroom – was found to have a broken lock.
A side-by-side shotgun was in the unlocked cabinet, while a Beretta under-and-over shotgun was lying on the dining room table.
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Officers also found a snap bag containing a tenth of a gram of cocaine.
Mackenzie, 53, pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images, possessing cocaine, and not keeping his shotguns secure in line with the terms of his firearms certificate.
Solicitor Virgil Crawford, defending, said: “A [background] report will be required.”
As far as the guns were concerned, Mr Crawford said that the lock on the cabinet had broken only just before the police search.
He said: “I suspect Mr Mackenzie’s shotgun certificate will be revoked.”
Sheriff Simon Collins QC deferred sentence until June 29 for reports, placed Mackenzie on the Sex Offenders’ Register, and ordered the forfeiture of the firearms.
He said: “You are certainly not entitled to keep a shotgun on the dining room table.”
Mackenzie hid his face as he left the court building, without commenting to a reporter.
