An Edinburgh court has jailed Nicky Robertson for nine years after he shot into the home of a former friend using live ammunition.
Nicky Robertson, 39, preliminarily conceded that on March 20, 2025, he” culpably and recklessly” discharged three rounds of live security through the ground- bottom window of a hearthstone in Niddrie Marischal Crescent, Niddrie, venturing everyone within.
In addition, he conceded three offenses involving the possession of a Glock handgun and security.
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday, Lord Weir doomed Robertson to nine years in captivity and three times of supervision upon his release, according to court officers.
The crimes were supposed” brazen-faced and intolerable” by the judge.
Lord Weir said:
“In respect of the firearms offences, I am bound to take account of the nature of the weapon and ammunition involved, the admitted duration of your possession, the fact that the gun was self-evidently in working order and capable of inflicting potentially lethal violence, and that it was ultimately intended to be used unlawfully.
The potential for serious harm is, and ought to have been, obvious.
It is a matter of significant concern that, notwithstanding a High Court conviction for attempted murder with a shotgun, committed when you were around 21 years old, and the period you will have spent in custody, you – a 39-year-old – are back in the same court, this time on a charge of repeatedly discharging a gun in public.”
Robertson admitted to having a Glock handgun, a weapon with a barrel shorter than thirty centimeters, and three live rounds of ammunition. He was previously sentenced to ten years in jail for another guns offense in 2007.
Additionally, he acknowledged that between February 24 and April 14, 2025, he had the rifle and ammunition at two residences in South Queensferry and Niddrie Marischal Crescent without a firearms certificate.
The police investigation into the case was a component of Operation Portaledge, which looked into a possible gang conflict, the court previously heard.
John Keenan KC, the advocate depute, earlier testified in court that a neighbor called 999 at 3:02 a.m. after hearing three loud bangs in the street, but that person was not the home’s occupant.
Four cell phones were taken from Robertson’s South Queensferry residence during a warrant search following the event, but he was not taken into custody.
Robertson was seen carrying a black Glock- style armament in an image that was recovered from one of the phones.
The court preliminarily heard that police searched a hearthstone in Edinburgh’s Crewe Road auditoriums on April 17, 2025, as part of their examinations into two fire- raising events.
The court preliminarily heard that a Glock handgun, three pellets, and a magazine were discovered in a black scrap bag behind the lounge. The arm’s forensic tests revealed a positive match with the coverings set up at Niddrie Marischal Crescent.
Defending, Mark Stewart KC, previously said:
“The background is in relation to a former friendship which went wrong a few years ago. There has been ongoing animosity towards the householder. The accused accepts he escalated matters beyond anything which is in any way acceptable.”
What evidence was presented at the High Court hearing?
Prosecutors at the High Court in Edinburgh presented CCTV footage landing Nicky Robertson exiting a white BMW 1 Series and firing three shots at Patrick Beatson’s Niddrie Marischal Crescent home on March 20, 2025, as primary substantiation.
Gold- coloured 9 mm Glock coverings recovered outside the property matched the burnt- out flight vehicle traced to Dalmeny near South Queensferry, where police latterly discovered the handgun wrapped in a caddy bag.
Robertson’s mobile phone contained videotape stills of the attack circulated on social media, linking him to possession charges from February- April 2025. Vehicle enrollment and mobile mapping placed him at the scene during the gang feud incident, corroborated by substantiation statements describing the loud bangs.
