A PENSIONER who recklessly discharged a shotgun over a public park in Melrose has been fined £1,200 and ordered to pay a £75 victim surcharge at Selkirk Sheriff Court.
Seventy-one-year-old Edward Hopkins, from Edinburgh, admitted the offence – which took place on February 4 – shortly before his case was due to go to trial.
Alasdair Fay, prosecuting, said a couple who were walking along a nearby footpath were left "alarmed" by the incident, having reported hearing "a loud pop" and spotting a crow in distress.
Hopkins was seen in the grounds of a property he owns in the neighbouring Abbey Mill Park – but initially denied the offence.
At the time it was thought he was carrying an air rifle, but it later turned out to be a 12-gauge shotgun.
Sheriff Janys Scott warned Hopkins discharging a firearm from a domestic property, across a playing field, was "a very serious matter".
But defence lawyer Ross Dow, said the first offender had no intention of using a gun again and has since returned his firearms licence.
Mr Dow added: "He did not think anyone was there."
A plea of not guilty to a charge of failing to store the shotgun securely was accepted by the Crown.
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