Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Man narrowly missed father and son after shooting air rifle into hedge

Alan Massey at Aberdeen Sheriff Court
Alan Massey at Aberdeen Sheriff Court

A man has been fined after he decided, in a “moment of stupidity”, to shoot his air rifle into his hedge to get rid of his last pellet, narrowly missing a father and his son.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard Alan Massey’s actions left the youngster “inconsolable, crying and shaking”.

Depute fiscal Linzi Souter told the court the pair had been playing football in their back garden when they heard a loud noise that sounded like a “gunshot”.

They then saw what looked like some form of projectile pass by them at high speed, around a foot away from them.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


Ms Souter said the father “looked up, and saw the accused standing in his own garden” before knocking on his front door to challenge him.

The 61-year-old admitted owning the air weapon, but said he had a license for it.

Ms Souter added: “The police were contacted and officers attended. They noted the child was inconsolable, crying and shaking.”

Massey pled guilty yesterday to a charge of firing his air rifle in a reckless manner on July 8 last year.

Defence solicitor Graham Morrison said his client, who lives in Portlethen, typically used the air rifle to shoot rabbits and didn’t want to put his gun away while it was loaded.

He told the court: “He recklessly shot it into the hedge, so it would be empty and he could put the gun away safely.

“He is a mature and sensible man and this was a moment of stupidity on his part.”

Sheriff Gary Aitken fined Massey £200 and ordered him to forfeit his weapon and its ammunition.