Gun alert by jilted lover was all lies

Jun 19 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A PERTH man sparked a major firearms alert after he dialled 999 and told police there was a lone gunman on the prowl in the grounds of a city primary school.

David McKinlay (21), of Brahan Terrace, claimed he heard a loud bang, which could have been a gunshot.

Tayside Police immediately deployed eight uniformed officers, two CID personnel, a dog unit and four firearms specialists to Letham Primary School in answer to the emergency call.

But it was all a pack of lies, Perth Sheriff Court was told this week.

He had made up the story after splitting up with his girlfriend – and had been seeking attention.

McKinlay escaped a prison sentence on Wednesday after pleading guilty to wasting police time on April 23 this year.

Instead, he was ordered to carry out 160 hours of community service – a direct alternative to a jail term.

Depute fiscal Therese Oswald said that McKinlay had been in a relationship but his girlfriend had ended it on April 22.

He texted her, saying he wanted to keep going out with her and they arranged to meet at 10.30pm the next evening.

But she didn’t want to continue with things and she left him crying and very upset.

“At 10.40pm, a 999 call was received from the accused at Dundee Police HQ, stating he had observed a male with a gun within the grounds of Letham Primary School,” stated the fiscal.

More than a dozen different officers responded and they traced the accused on a grass area near the school.

He told them he had been passing the building when he saw a male with a gun – and provided a description of him.

“He then said he had heard a loud bang, which he thought had been a gunshot, or firework, going off. He then immediately ran to telephone the police.”

Due to “several inconsistencies” in his statement, however, he was asked to provide further details.

“This time he admitted he had made the whole thing up and hadn’t seen anyone with a gun at all.

“He said he had made the whole story up because he had fallen out with his girlfriend and wanted attention.

“He said he was sorry and didn't realise the trouble he would have caused.”

Solicitor Billy Somerville said that the whole episode had lasted just an hour from the time he made the 999 call to him being questioned and admitting he had wasted police time.

“He accepted he had caused a large number of officers to be deployed.”

The lawyer added that he would be seeking counselling, the exact nature of which had to be determined.

Sheriff Daniel Kelly told McKinlay: “It’s an extremely serious matter to call the police in these circumstances.

“It was incredibly foolish to have said you had seen someone with a gun at a primary school.”

He would have been considering a prison sentence had he not quickly admitted the whole thing had been made up.