Man spared prison over gun threat after sheep row

An engineer who held a gun to a man's head after a row over sheep on his land has been spared a fresh prison term.

Brian Capstick fired a revolver into the air before pressing the weapon against William Hodgson's face.

A court heard Mr Hodgson, 68, owed Capstick £200 for using his land in Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway, to graze sheep.

He was arrested days later for a separate gun-related incident at his parents' home in Cumbria.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that case resulted in a five-year prison sentence and he had since been released.

In March Capstick, 52, pled guilty to a breach of the peace and two separate firearms charges related to the encounter on the B723 near Boreland on 11 December 2019.

But Lord Matthews decided against imposing another prison term viewing it as part of the same course of conduct as the English sentence.

Capstick was instead made subject of a community payback order for a period of two years and four months.

The hearing in March was told that Mr Hodgson had used the accused's land to graze sheep in 2016.

But prosecutor Angela Gray told the court he still owed Capstick £200 for that service three years later.

On the day of the incident, Mr Hodgson was driving home when the accused overtook and then stopped.

Capstick then took a gun from a plastic bag, leapt out of his van and declared: "I have had enough of this."

Miss Gray told the court: "He raised his right hand into the air and fired the gun over the top of the van.

"William Hodgson heard a loud crack or bang.

"Capstick then placed the barrel against the left side of his face close to his ear."

Mr Hodgson said he was terrified by his ordeal but later went to Capstick's home in Ecclefechan and gave him £160 towards the debt.

The court was told the weapon used was a British Military .38 revolver, dating from 1942.

Tony Lenehan KC, defending, previously said "everything was positive" in Capstick's life until he was affected by serious personal issues.

The defence advocate told the court his client had previously created buildings used in television programmes.

Mr Lenehan said the victim had known Capstick for "a long time and in good times" and was now "sympathetic" about what had happened.