A “JOKER” seen firing a stun gun disguised as a torch in public failed to see the funny side when a judge told him yesterday (Thursday) he will be jailed for five-years.

Prankster Jamie Garrity bowed his head in the dock at the High Court in Livingston after a jury returned a unanimous verdict finding him guilty of possessing a firearm disguised as a torch.

Advocate depute David Logan told the High Court at Livingston that the incident took place in Prestonpans at 6.10pm on June 29, 2020.

Garrity was seen “showing off” the device, which produced electrical sparks and made a distinctive crackling sound as he repeatedly discharged it.

Mr Logan said: “The accused was showing off by firing it in the direction of a dog, but in a jokey way.”

He said a 14-year-old boy, who was at the basketball courts close to Preston Lodge High School, recognised the device as a taser and called the police.

When officers arrived, he said, Garrity ran away in the direction of Prestonpans High Street throwing away an object as he did so.

When the 35-year-old was arrested and cautioned by police he told officers: “It was a taser and I threw it in the bushes.”

He revealed he had borrowed the weapon from a friend, adding: "I was just going to give it back.

“I was going to meet Adder and drop it off at the Lidl car park.

"You can look through my phone as I had just phoned him to go and give it back.

"I know it’s a bad thing to have so I ran.”

Mr Logan said while he was still in the park the accused complained to PC Mohammad Iqbal about having a “tightness in his hand” which was taken as homophobic abuse.

The stun gun was later recovered from undergrowth in the park.

Garrity earlier pleaded guilty to making a homophobic remark to the officer, a charge aggravated by relating to sexual orientation.

He also pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by repeatedly discharging the stun gun in the presence of members of the public.

Garrity had earlier offered to plead guilty to an alternative charge of possessing a prohibited weapon designed or adapted to discharge electricity, which does not attract compulsory jail time.

However, the jury convicted him of the more serious offence under Section 5(1A)(A) of the Firearms Act 1968 – possessing a firearm disguised as a torch.

During the trial, forensic scientist Julia Bilsland told the court that she had examined the “non-lethal, self-defence device” and found it functioned as both a torch and a stun gun.

She said: “Our guidance is that the question of whether an item is disguised or not is a matter for the jury.”

Under cross examination by defence counsel Kenneth Cloggie KC she agreed that stun guns were readily available on the internet and legal in almost every other country in Europe.

She also admitted she had dealt with cases where people had brought them back from holiday or had been given them by friends after a foreign holiday

She confirmed that no attempt had been made to alter the appearance or the sound of the electrodes and there was no evidence of any modifications having been made to the device used by the accused.

Garrity did not lead any evidence in his own defence.

Following the verdict, jurors were told that the 35-year-old clown, had “a lengthy list” of previous convictions prior to 2011, has previously served three prison sentences, the longest of which was 40 days.

Judge Lord Harrower reminded Garrity he had already pleaded guilty to two charges in relation to his possession of a stun gun.

He said: “You have today been found guilty of the more serious charge of possessing a stun gun found by the jury to have been disguised as another object – a torch.

"That is a very serious charge under the Firearms Act.

“Essentially, that is why you’ve been here and having this trial because it’s a charge that carries a minimum sentence of five years subject to exceptional circumstances, which Mr Cloggie advises he doesn’t intend to plead in your case.

“Your record shows a number of convictions for comparatively minor matters, the amount of time you have spent in custody is relatively low and these offences are also some years old.

“You have no High Court or solemn convictions and I do think the court would benefit from reports on you, so I’m going to defer sentence in order that a social work report can be prepared.

“In the meantime you’ll be remanded in custody.”

When Garrity, of Longdykes Road, Prestonpans, comes before the judge again at Edinburgh High Court on December 2, he faces being sentenced to a minimum of five-years in prison.