POLICE caught a man walking around the streets with a carrier bag with a baseball bat and handgun inside.

Michael Barratt claimed he had found the gun in a local park after being stopped by cops at Shell Filling Station on Nether Auldhouse Road on February 2.

Officers initially had their attention drawn to the 37-year-old after they saw an item which looked like a baseball bat sticking out of a white bag he was carrying.

A search of his person revealed that a black metal handgun was also in the bag which later turned out to be an imitation handgun.

Barratt appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to having the weapon in his possession.

The court heard how Barratt, of Tallant Terrace in Drumchapel, had previously been held at gunpoint during a robbery which had caused him to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder - leading to his drug addiction.

Sheriff Alan MacKenzie placed the accused on a community payback order as a direct alternative to custody.

He will be required to undergo 190 hours of unpaid work within a period of nine months and will be under the supervision of the social work department for 12 months.