Europa Rangers fan held by police at airport

A Rangers fan from St Andrews was locked up in a Livingston jail cell when he should have been on a flight to Seville for the Europa League final.

David Melville, 58, was due to board his flight to to watch Rangers play Eintracht Frankfurt.

But as he approached the departure gate at Edinburgh Airport he was apprehended by police after an outstanding warrant from two years ago was flagged to officials.

Melville was taken to Livingston police station, where he spent the night.

He appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday, where a sympathetic sheriff fined him – but deducted the cost of his flight and accommodation in Seville.

Melville, of Strathkinness, by St Andrews, was visited by police in October 2020 after they received a tipoff that he owned an air rifle without the correct documentation.

He allowed the gun to be seized and understood that would be the end of the matter.

He moved house from where the weapon was taken and claims he never received papers regarding further court appearances, the court heard.

The self-employed landscape gardener pled guilty to the 2020 charge in front of Sheriff Lindsay Foulis, who reduced his fine by £250 to account for the “punishment” of missing the football final.

The return flight to Seville cost £150, with his accommodation setting him back a further £100.

Sheriff Foulis said: “I would have given you a £500 fine, reduced from £700 for your plea.

“But I am going to take the cost of the flight and accommodation off, so you will be fined £250, in recognition of how long it has taken this matter to carry out.”

Defence solicitor David Sinclair said his client had been left in “disbelief”.

He said: “It was a .22 air rifle he used for target practice with his children in the back garden 20 years ago.

“He did not know the legislation had changed.”