STV NewsA former soldier caught with an explosive device has been jailed for four and a half years.
John Carstairs, 44, was held after an army bomb disposal unit was called to the scene in Cambuslang on November 15, 2022.
The potentially harmful item consisted of a tube with nails, firework powder and a fuse, which could have sparked the device.
Carstairs was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.
He had earlier been found guilty after a trial in Paisley of a charge under the Explosives Substances Act as well as another of culpable and reckless conduct.
One claim Carstairs had made was that he had certain items to make “a large firework” for his child.
The indictment stated Carstairs made or had in his possession the explosive during a car journey between his home in Carntyne and Cambuslang.
The court heard he went on to be spotted “acting suspiciously” in the dark some distance from where he stayed.
It eventually led to the army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal team being scrambled from Edinburgh to deal with the device.
Sentencing, Judge Bruce Erroch KC said the actions of Carstairs appeared to be “pre-meditated”.
He jailed him for four and a half years for the more serious charge under the Explosives Act.
Judge Erroch imposed a concurrent two-year term to run alongside that in connection with the other offence.
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