A SALTCOATS woman with a certificate for two shotguns has admitted to not storing one of them correctly - after police found it behind her living room couch.

Nicola Currie, 41, appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week for sentencing. She had previously pled guilty by letter to one charge under the Firearms Amendment Act but sentence had been deferred for her personal appearance.

Currie was the holder of a shotgun certificate issued by Stephen House, Chief Constable of Police Scotland. According to the conditions of the certificate, the shotgun must always – except in certain circumstances – be stored securely so as to prevent access by an unauthorised person.

Currie failed to comply with the said condition on August 9 at her home in Mayfield Road, Saltcoats, in that she failed to store one of her shotguns securely.

The court heard that on August 9, police were asked to attend at the locus at 1.10am in relation to another incident. When they arrived, they consulted their system which informed them that Currie had two shotguns within her property. They asked to see the guns.

One of the items was stored in the cabinet in Currie’s living room. They found the second one behind the couch. Currie said that the shotgun behind the couch was too big to fit in the gun cabinet.

The court also heard that Currie had no previous criminal record. Sheriff McKenzie said: “I think a report will be required in this case given the nature of the charge.”

Sentence was deferred until November 21 in order for the court to obtain a full Criminal Justice Social Work Report and a Restriction of Liberty Assessment. Currie was ordained to appear on that date.