Man Who Bought Gun and Searched Online for Dunblane Massacre and "Primary School in Glasgow" Jailed
James Maxwell Attempted to Import a Gun and 100 rounds of Ammunition from the United States.
A man who carried out an online search for the Dunblane school shooting and tried to import a handgun and 100 rounds of ammunition from America has been jailed for five years.
James Maxwell admitted to six charges - including attempting to acquire a prohibited weapon, and the possession of child pornography.
A court heard in September, that he'd made online searches for the Dunblane massacre - in which eighteen people were killed when a gunman opened fire in a primary school in 1996 - as well as searches “primary school in Glasgow” and "when do schools break up for Christmas 2022".
The 28 year old, from Leven in Fife, paid £1,000 in cryptocurrency to buy the self-loading pistol and bullets. But his plans were thwarted after US law enforcement officers searched and found a Glock 17 handgun and ammunition in a UK-bound mail package which included Maxwell’s address and phone number and immediately alerted Police Scotland.
Four days later, a package containing the Glock gun box and two ammunition boxes was delivered to Maxwell’s home and officers arrived with a search warrant and found it in his bedroom.
“100 rounds of that kind of ammunition used against school pupils would have been an unimaginable horror”
Ahead of sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh, James Maxwell’s legal defence painted a picture of a troubled man, living an “odd and isolated existence” with no friendships and only “minimal contact” with a world outside of the internet and computer games. His legal team said he was “clearly a young man who requires help”, suggesting prison time would have little positive impact on his isolated, and at times suicidal life.
Despite those pleas, Judge Ericht said Maxwell presented a “grave risk to public safety”, commending US authorities and Police Scotland for stopping the delivery of a gun from America - saying that “100 rounds of that kind of ammunition used against school pupils would have been an unimaginable horror”.
He’ll spend at least five years behind bars, and has been placed on the sex offenders register for 7 years.