A MAN who admitted being in possession of an air rifle at a property in Alexandria has been fined – after a court heard he led an otherwise "quiet and peaceful" life.

Peter Beevers, 54, originally went on trial before a jury charged with assaulting a man in Buchanan Court, Alexandria, on December 1, 2018, and shouting, swearing and making threats of violence, as well as having the illegal weapon.

But part of the way into the trial Beevers, of Birch Close in Shildon, County Durham, pleaded guilty to having the weapon – and the Crown accepted his plea of not guilty to the other two charges.

On September 2 at Dumbarton Sheriff Court, Beevers' defence solicitor, Gail Campbell, said her client had lost his temper during the incident.

She said: "He has to accept he has a significant record. He has kept himself out of all sorts of trouble for a decade.

"He leads, he tells me, a quiet and peaceful life, and is on good terms with his neighbours.

"His day-to-day existence is going out for walks, gardening, and keeping himself to himself.

"It's a serious matter. He accepts, with the benefit of hindsight, that his temper should not have got the better of him."

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry said it was difficult to set a penalty for Beevers, given he has a physical impairment and his liberty is already restricted.

The sheriff remarked that Beevers would struggle to do unpaid work, and said social work supervision would do little.

He added that the charge Beevers ultimately pleaded guilty to was further down the scale and would not have seen him appear before a jury.

Had he been convicted of the original three charges, he would have been sent to prison.

Beevers was fined a total of £450.