Star pleads guilty to gun charge

HEARTS star Lee Wallace today admitted carrying a loaded gun while being driven around a city housing estate. The 19-year-old was caught with the weapon in the back of a friend's car as they cruised around Sighthill in the early hours of the morning.

Police stopped the vehicle after growing suspicious because it was being driven too slowly. They found the Scottish Premier League star carrying the powerful airgun and a pile of ammunition.

A judge today described the incident as an act of "extreme stupidity", given Wallace's high profile as a professional footballer. The young Tynecastle defender told officers who arrested him that he had bought the weapon earlier in the day to shoot bottles and cans.

The court heard that he pulled the gun from his jacket after he and two other men in the car were asked if there was anything illegal in the vehicle. The airgun was fully loaded and Wallace also had ten pellets on him.

Wallace, who lives with his parents in Carrick Knowe, had originally been charged with having a fully-fledged gun, but pleaded guilty today to the lesser charge of possessing an air weapon in Sighthill Green car park on August 4. Wallace, who wore a

dark suit and sat calmly in the dock today, told police they had been driving around the estate looking for a girl that one of his friends wanted to see when they were stopped at 1.40am.

Fiscal depute Liam Haggart told Edinburgh Sheriff Court today: "He was sitting in the rear of the car with two other men and produced the weapon from his side jacket pocket."

Wallace's lawyer, Iain McSporran, said the teenager, who has just signed a five-year deal with Hearts, had not realised the weapon was illegal and co-operated fully with the police.

He said if officers had suspected a gun was involved before stopping the car, an armed response team would have called out.

"He did not seek to conceal the weapon to the police. After contacting me, he immediately asked to plead guilty as soon as I advised him it was an offence," Mr McSporran said. "This was a foolish action rather than something worse. It was a clear error of judgement."

Mr McSporran told Sheriff Kenneth Maciver he could not reveal Wallace's income because of club policy but that he was "in good full-time employment with good prospects and could pay a fine."

Sheriff Kenneth Maciver deferred sentence for background reports, telling Wallace: "For a young man in your situation, this was at best an act of extreme stupidity. It may be more than that in the circumstances.

"It clearly gave cause for concern. The court must recognise the real potential for danger and I want to be clear there is nothing sinister in this set of circumstances."

The teenager was part of the Scotland under-19 squad that made the final of the European Championships and also played as a substitute in both legs of the Tynecastle club's clashes against AEK Athens. The incident in Sighthill happened just two days before the defender helped his team defeat Celtic 2-1 in the SPL at Tynecastle.

The teenager, who was accompanied in court by his agent Gary Mackay, was initially told to return to the court for sentencing on September 28, but was called back into the dock and given a new date for the following day because Hearts are playing a UEFA Cup match at Murrayfield against Sparta Prague. He refused to comment outside court today.

A spokesman for Hearts said: "Lee informed the club of the situation shortly after it happened.

"The nature of the discussion that took place will remain private but we are satisfied there was no malice or intent on his part.

Taken from the Scotsman