A father-of-three who had a stungun in his home for self-defence has been jailed for 21 months.

Darren Widdows, 50, faced a minimum prison sentence of five years but a judge said exceptional circumstances allowed him to reduce this term.

These included the fact that Widdows suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of witnessing riots while in prison in the late 1980s.

Maidstone Crown Court heard what he saw "had never left him" and he still undergoes weekly counselling.

The stungun, a K95 which can be bought over the internet for just £20, was disguised as a mobile phone and found in a box in Widdows' living room by police in April last year.

Prosecutor Benjamin Burge said it was charged and ready for use and when activated it produced sparks and a crackling sound.

"There is enormous concern within the community as a whole as to the manner in which stunguns are in the private and public domain" - Judge Philip Statman

However, two experts concluded the weapon was not lethal and although the voltage was measured in tens of thousands, that did not indicate the device's power and would not have had the same impact as a Taser.

Widdows, of Tennyson Place, Folkestone, admitted possessing a disguised firearm.

He had been given the stungun by a friend after he had been attacked at the door of his home sometime previously in what he thought was a case of mistaken identity, said James Howard, defending.

Widdows had been jailed for four-and-a-half years in 1989 for an offence of violence but had remained out of trouble since 1994.

Passing sentence, Judge Philip Statman said he accepted Widdows had witnessed "extremely ugly incidents" which had left him scarred and that his current mental health was "fragile".

He added that Widdows' early guilty plea, his rehabilitation and the fact the stungun had not been used all "rightly and properly" reflected a substantial reduction in the usual five-year minimum sentence.

However, he said it would be "unduly lenient" to suspend any jail term.

"There is enormous concern within the community as a whole as to the manner in which stunguns are in the private and public domain.

"If you keep a stungun in your home in conditions which quite clearly are not secure, all it needs is for someone to come into your home and take it away, thus you lose any control over it.

"Furthermore, if someone were to come to your address with whom you had difficulty and it being used, there is a real and present danger of an extremely ugly situation developing."

The court heard that police also found skunk cannabis and several cannabis plants at Widdows' home, which he would share on social occasions within his home.

Widdows admitted possessing a class B drug and was given a two month sentence to run concurrently.