A man found in possession of a stun gun disguised as a torch after discharging it in the street has been jailed for five years.

Simon Grix faced the minimum term under the Firearms Act of 1968 unless exceptional circumstances could be found.

But a judge said the offence was aggravated by the 55-year-old former drug dealer having two relevant convictions involving firearms.

Grix, of Dene Holm Road, Northfleet, admitted possessing a weapon that could produce a noxious substance or dangerous reaction. He was not eligible for any credit that would have reduced the sentence.

Maidstone Crown Court heard two police officers approached him on November 8 last year after two members of the public reported that a man with a balding head had discharged a Taser in London Road, Gravesend.

Prosecutor Alexia Zimbler said Grix handed over a lighter and claimed he had nothing else that would cause harm, saying: “No sir, I would be very respectable.”

The ‘torch’ with Police inscribed on the side was taken from his pocket. One of the officers discharged it to confirm it was an illegal weapon.

Jobless Grix claimed a friend in Welling had given it to him to try to find out how much it was worth. It came with an instruction leaflet in English and another language.

“He said he pressed the button on the torch and it crackled,” said Miss Zimbler. “He said he didn’t know it was illegal but guessed it could be.”

"In my view a Taser is a more serious weapon than, for instance, CS gas" - Judge Michael Carroll

He denied discharging it that day in Gravesend, and claimed he had been playing with a lighter.

He had a number of convictions for drugs, and in 1994 he was found guilty of possessing a prohibited weapon and an offensive weapon.

Then, in 2012, he was convicted of possessing a prohibited weapon and discharging a noxious liquid – Parva spray, which is used by the police as an incapacitant.

Judge Michael Carroll told Grix: “In my view a Taser is a more serious weapon than, for instance, CS gas.

“It was carried in a public place and it was discharged by you. You have previous convictions for similar offences. I can find no exceptional circumstances here.

“The sentence I am duty-bound in law to pass upon you, of which you will serve half, is five years imprisonment.”

Lizzie Wilson, defending, said Grix had no intended target.

“He had no idea it was dangerous and no idea of the consequences of having the Taser in his possession,” she said.

But Miss Wilson said she could put forward no exceptional circumstances that would reduce the sentence.