Teenager caught with Taser near Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth must pay £500
Owen Cahill, 19, of Winter Road, Southsea, admitted having the Taser on August 1 at the car park behind the Mountbatten Centre in Stamshaw.
Portsmouth Crown Court heard Cahill was talking to the driver of a car when police arrived and smelled a ‘strong smell of cannabis’.
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Hide AdPeter Walsh, prosecuting, said they searched Cahill at 10.55pm who admitted having the device on him but said it did not work. No drugs were found on the teenager.
Officers found a ‘battery pack’ with Taser and 10,000 volts written on it. When seized and later tested it proved to have a flat battery.
The court heard Cahill was a middleman for returning the device which had been left in a car.
Judge William Ashworth imposed a 12-month prison term suspended for two years with unpaid work.
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Hide AdThe judge said Cahill was ‘on the fringes of people who would have a Taser’ and warned him weapon sentences could start at five-year terms.
Cahill must pay £500 prosecution costs. The weapon was forfeited and will be destroyed.