A 61-year-old man who illegally owned a replica Sig Sauer handgun was found guilty of a firearms offence at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.

George Buchanan was already banned from owning such a weapon since he had previously served a jail sentence of more than three years. The ban is lifelong.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

Detective Inspector Bruce Coutts of Corstorphine CID said: “Firearms offences are often linked to serious and organised crime.

“This conviction should serve as a reminder to others that Police Scotland will not tolerate gun crime.

“We will use all resources at our disposal to identify those responsible for such offences and remove them from our communities.”

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John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.