Taser gun found as bedroom searched

A man who admitted keeping an illegal taser gun at his home has avoided a jail sentence after claiming he found the weapon in a park.

Insar Yousaf, aged 27, from Tipton, had kept the 30,000-vault gun in a drawer in his bedroom.

The gun was found by police after he was arrested for possession of cannabis. Yousaf, who also pleaded guilty to possession of a class B drug with intent to supply, was found with nearly £100 of cannabis but the court was told it had been bought for personal use for himself and for two of his friends.

The defendant, of Crompton Road, was given a community sentence when he appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.

But he was told by the judge his basis of plea should be viewed with "scepticism".

Mr Hugh O'Brien-Quinn, prosecuting, said Yousaf was arrested after police noticed a car at the side of the road on March 20 with two men sat in the front and a third man leaning through the window.

He said police saw what looked like some kind of transaction taking place before the third man fled but Yousaf was taken to the station after officers noticed a strong smell of cannabis.

He handed in nearly £500 in cash and a large bag of the drug containing nine smal-ler bags to police before being searched, the court was told. The stungun was found not to be in proper working order with no battery.

"The defendant says he had found that item in the park a couple of days earlier and had intended to hand it in to the police ," said Mr O'Brien-Quinn.

Judge Martin Walsh said he wanted to make it clear that he had some "scepticism" of the defendant's version of events. Yousaf was sentenced to a two-year supervision order and 180 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay the £487.70 recovered by police in costs.