Sauchie man on trial accused of stealing fake handgun
A man is to face trial accused of finding an imitation handgun and taking it into a bank in Stirling.
Scott Park is alleged to have stumbled across the gun on waste ground near Murray Place.
The 33-year-old is then alleged to have been in possession of the imitation weapon at a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, in Murray Place, on 10 June this year. He denies the allegations.
Sheriff Wyllie Robertson continued the case for trial on 13 November.
At Stirling Sheriff Court, Mr Park pleaded not guilty to theft-by-finding, and contravention of the Firearms Act.
The preliminary hearing heard that Mr Park, from Sauchie in Stirlingshire, was alleged to have found the gun on the vacant lot at the rear of 80 Murray Place, in Stirling city centre, and, without attempting to discover its true owner, to have stolen it.
He is then alleged to have been in possession of the imitation weapon, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, while at the Royal Bank of Scotland branch.
Defence agent Alistair Burleigh said he understood the fake gun was presently in the hands of police in Bannockburn, and he had instructed a firearms expert to examine it before the trial.
He said the defence would also be studying town centre CCTV footage which is said to show part of the alleged incident.