Taxi Driver Online

Daily Record

August 16, 2007, Thursday

HITMAN'S KIT FOUND IN SWOOP

A HITMAN'S kit was seized by cops at the height of a series of gang-related shootings, a court heard yesterday.

When police stopped taxi driver James McKay, 52, on the M74 at 2am, they thought at first he was carrying drugs.

But the High Court in Glasgow heard they found a Russian-made pistol, silencer and bullets wrapped in a black plastic bag in his Ford Focus.

McKay, of Cumbernauld, admitted three contraventions of the Firearms Act on the M74 at Hamilton last October 12.

The court was told that McKay appeared surprised when the bag was opened.

Alastair Carmichael, prosecuting, said: "He said he knew there was something in the bag but didn't know what. He said he thought it might be drugs."

Mark Moir, defending, said: "Mr McKay advises me he was to be paid pounds 200. However, he never received it because police intercepted his car."

Judge Lord Philip deferred sentence until next month and granted McKay bail.
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