Violent schizophrenic jailed for having disguised taser gun

A VIOLENT schizophrenic who was caught out with a taser disguised as a torch with ‘police’ written on it was dumped in jail for five years.
Ben FosterBen Foster
Ben Foster

Paranoid Ben Foster, 30, was incarcerated for the statutory minimum five year term after holding his hands up to possessing a disguised stun gun at Portsmouth Crown Court.

The defendant came clean after police were tipped off he had the dangerous weapon at his Westward House address in Fishbourne Road East, Chichester, last June.

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When officers turned up, Foster helpfully pointed them in the direction of the device. ‘It’s over there,’ he said, according to prosecutor Edward Elton.

Ben FosterBen Foster
Ben Foster

‘The disguised firearm looked like a torch and had police written on it,’ Mr Elton said.

During police interview, Foster explained he carried the stun gun for protection. He told cops: ‘It’s better to carry (the taser) than a knife.’

Sadly for the defendant, in terms of sentencing at least, he was wrong as a taser is classified as a firearm – making it more serious than carrying a knife.

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Defence barrister Mark Kessler explained Foster’s hapless misjudgement. He said: ‘It is ironic that the defendant seemed to think it would be more appropriate to have this sort of weapon, which he thought would not be as severe as carrying a knife.’

The court heard how habitual cocaine and alcohol user Foster, who has seven aliases, has violent tendencies – with him serving five weeks behind bars for assaulting an emergency worker in December last year.

Described as a ‘high risk’ to society, his catalogue of offending also included attacking a police officer and other violent crimes during his hell-raising exploits of 2018.

Mr Kessler told the court Foster appeared to suffer with a number of mental health problems, including having bouts of schizophrenia and a ‘brain abnormality’ which impacted on his behaviour.

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But the barrister was concerned that, despite admissions from the defendant and his mum in a letter to probation over his mental disposition, there was no ‘proper medical evidence’ to back this up – potentially reducing his sentence below the statutory five year minimum prison term.

‘I feel uncomfortable,’ admitted Mr Kessler. ‘It’s extremely hard to deal with as medical evidence could reduce his sentence below the five year sentence.’

But judge William Ashworth, despite deciding he did not need to defer the case after accepting the mental health issues were genuine, still opted for a five year prison term. ‘In my view you have been assessed but it hasn’t stopped recent bouts of offending,’ he said, referring to the litany of violent crimes last year.

He continued: ‘A welfare officer made the police aware there was a taser disguised as a torch. You admitted possessing a disguised stun gun, which is classified as a firearm where there is a minimum five year sentence.

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‘There is no evidence you were going to use it and you said you had for it self defence. You have problems with alcohol and cocaine and became paranoid that you would get into a confrontation.’

Judge Ashworth concluded: ‘You are a high risk to the public.’