Five years jail for man who bought stun gun disguised as torch - for a fiver

Carl Welch kept the weapon at his home in Cradley Heath but was rumbled after it was discovered by police.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard there was no way of telling the item apart from a torch.

But it was in fact a dangerous weapon capable of causing serious harm if fired.

Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said Welch, aged 42, bought the weapon for £5 'from a man assumed to be a drug dealer' but had no idea it was actually a designed stun gun.

However, he later became aware that it was a weapon but did not hand it in, instead boasting that he had it and showing it off to friends, Mr Jones added.

"Officers found what they described as a disguised firearm. There was no markings on it to identify it as a torch," he said.

"He said he didn't know it was a stun gun when he bought it. He initially thought it was a torch."

Possession of stun guns carries a minimum mandatory prison term of five years and Judge Kristina Montgomery told him she had no choice but to send him to jail for what she called a 'lapse of judgement'.

She said she accepted he initially thought it was a torch but that the minimum sentence 'ought to apply'.

She said: "That item gave all the appearance of a legitimate tool but was capable of firing a significant electrical output.

"I acknowledge what was said in mitigation but you came to know what it actually was and kept it in your possession for reasons only known to yourself."

The weapon was found at his home by police on January 22

Welch, of Greenfield Avenue, had pleaded guilty to possession of a disguised firearm at a previous hearing. He was told he would have to serve half of his sentence and would remain on licence when released.

Mr Gurdeep Garcha, defending, said: "He bitterly regrets what happened. He came by this item initially not understanding what it was.

"Of course he accepts in due course he became aware of what it was."