Glasgow man caught with three explosive devices under driver's seat 'inspired by apocalypse book'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A man who was caught with three improvised explosive devices under the driver's seat of his car when police stopped the vehicle in Glasgow's east end was today jailed for 40 months.

James Curran claimed that he had drawn inspiration from a character in an apocalyptic novel when he made the IEDs using fireworks, nails and ball bearings.A judge told Curran, 58, at the High Court in Edinburgh: "You maintain you had no intention of exploding them or harming any person." But Lord Doherty added that even on the basis that his motivation was experimentation it remained a serious offence.The judge said there was a need to deter others from making or possessing such devices.

He told Curran, formerly of Bellrock Street, Glasgow, that he would have faced a five year jail sentence and a further two years under supervision if he had not pled guilty.Curran earlier admitted breaching the 1883 Explosives Substances Act between November 2020 and August 2021 by making or knowingly having possession of the three IEDs.

The court heard that on August 24 in 2021 police officers, acting on intelligence, were on the lookout for Curran's Vauxhall Zafira when they spotted it and stopped it in Loretto Street, Glasgow.Curran was alone in the vehicle and when it was searched they found a carrier bag containing fireworks and the three devices under the driver's seat.