A LEADING doctor with NHS Ayrshire and Arran has walked free from court after he admitted he was found with a shotgun lodged between his bed frame and mattress. 
Anthony David Newland, 54, from Newmilns, is the lead paediatric consultant with NHS Ayrshire and Arran and has held that position for over 15 years. 
He appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week charged with having the Rizzini shotgun under the bed and not in the cabinet he is required to keep it in under the conditions of his firearms certificate. 
The court heard how Newland had shot a fox but hadn’t killed the animal and was worried that it might return to attack his fowl on the farm where he lives. 
The gun was positioned in between the bed frame and the mattress of the bedroom that Newland was sleeping in at the time, which was not the master bedroom, due to marital difficulties and he didn’t want to place it back into the cabinet which was located in the master bedroom. 
Graham McKinstry, defending, said that his client had disassembled the weapon and it was not loaded at the time of the offence. He also handed the court a letter signed by the Associate Director of Crosshouse Hospital. 
In his final submission to the court, Mr McKinstry said: “It’s rare that I do this but in my final disposal I ask that this be dealt with by way of an absolute discharge.”
Sheriff Shirley Foran said that she had taken all the circumstances into consideration and dealt with the matter by way of absolute discharge.