Man with iPhone-disguised Taser 'found it in McDonald's'

The American-imported device, which is illegal in Britain, was found in the toilet of The Bird in Hand in Stafford by a sharp-eyed police officer who spotted sparks coming from the device.

He saw the 'phone' in the hands of Nathaniel Nelson who quickly popped into the pub but then left the premises after just a few seconds inside.

Mr Paul Farrow, prosecuting, said the device was made to look like an Apple iPhone but had two prongs coming out the top. It was sent to a firearms expert who reported that it was an electric shock device and therefore a disguised firearm.

Nelson, aged 33, a resident of St George's Hospital, Stafford, admitted possessing a disguised firearm.

In a basis of plea, he claimed he found the device at the McDonald's in the town shortly before he was arrested.

Under British law, the penalty for having such a device is a mandatory minimum five years in jail, but Judge Mark Eades ruled there were 'special reasons' for not imposing the sentence and imposed four months imprisonment suspended for a year.

"The circumstances here are most unusual," the judge told Nelson. "The court now accepts you simply found this device and shortly after that you abandoned it. But you were aware a weapon like that should not be in circulation - you chose to keep it and dispose of it."

Stafford Crown Court heard that Nelson was sentenced to a hospital order for offences including sexual assault and had been a resident of St George's since October 2013.

Mr Farrow said the device could be legally bought in the US from sites such as Amazon for about $23 - about £15 - but St George's had no record of Nelson receiving any packages from abroad or using the internet to order any products.

On November 27 last year, Nelson approached two girls in the alley outside McDonald's, showed them the 'phone' and asked if they wanted to buy it, the court heard.

He walked with the girls towards The Bird in Hand just as the officer was leaving the crown court. He asked a woman passer-by "did you hear that?" referring to crackling and sparks coming from the phone Nelson was holding. The defendant then went in to the pub and came out only 30 or so seconds later.

The officer went in and found the illicit Taser behind some panelling in the toilet.

Miss Elizabeth Power, defending, said Nelson had been on day release from the hospital when this happened. His offending was that he did not hand the Taser in to the police, she said, adding: "Anyone could have picked it up."