Stun gun warning after man jailed for five years for discharging taser

Jamie Garrity, from Prestonpans, had been seen 'showing off' the weapon in his home town and had been witnessed sparking the taser “twenty or thirty times” but ran away when police arrived and threw it into bushes.

At the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, Garrity, 35, was sentenced to five years in prison for possessing the weapon in June 2020.

Now, High Court prosecutors are warning the public that stun guns bought online and imported from abroad are classed as prohibited firearms and anyone owning one runs the risk of a lengthy prison sentence.

Ruth McQuaid, Procurator Fiscal for High Court, welcomed the sentence and said it should send out a strong public message over the use of stuns guns disguised as everyday items.

She said: “It’s important that people who shop online for these items realise that, under the law, they are regarded as prohibited firearms.

'Severe risk of serious injury'

“They are dangerous and carry a severe risk of serious injury if discharged in public places.

“This sentence reflects the gravity of the offence and we would urge people to be aware of the legal implications of buying them.

“The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will continue to apply the law in this area to ensure that communities are properly safeguarded and that individuals are kept free from potential harm.”

The court heard at an earlier hearing how the offence took place at 6.10pm on June 29, 2020, when Garrity entered the park in Prestonpans and walked towards a teenage boy carrying a “black, cylindrical metal object” measuring about nine inches in length.

The youth then heard a “distinctive crackling noise” which he instantly recognised as the sound of a taser being discharged.

The stun gun that was discharged by the accused. Image courtesy of the Crown Office

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

Prosecutors told the court that Garrity was "showing off” and trying to intimidate the witness, who immediately called his father.

When the teenager’s dad arrived at the park, he saw the accused talking to a female and heard the taser being discharged between twenty and thirty times.

Police were called and when officers arrived, 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.”

Homophobic abuse

Mr Logan told the previous court hearing that while Garrity was still in the park, he complained to PC Mohammad Iqbal about having a “tightness in his hand” which was taken as homophobic abuse.

Police later recovered the stun gun from the bushes.

The gun was later found to be in working order, with an audible and visible display of sparks occurring between electrodes when discharged.

Prosecutors told the court that Garrity’s DNA was also found on the gun.

Garrity 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.

'Very serious charge'

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, of Longdykes Road, had “a lengthy list” of previous convictions prior to 2011 and had previously served three prison sentences, the longest of which was 40 days.

At the earlier hearing, Judge Lord Harrower told Garrity he had been found guilty of "a very serious charge under the Firearms Act" which "carries a minimum sentence of five years subject to exceptional circumstances, which Mr Cloggie advises he doesn’t intend to plead in your case".

Sentence had been deferred to this month for reports on Garrity.