A Thanet man who agreed to do a favour for a friend landed himself with an 18-month jail sentence.

Adam Silver, 25, went to a lock-up garage in Edith Road, Ramsgate, in March to help move a car engine and was given a blue holdall which he placed in his BMW car.

But, 15 minutes later, police officers raided the garage and asked for Silver to hand over his car keys.

Inside the vehicle, officers opened the bag and discovered a sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun and ammunition.

Under legislation, Silver, who admitted the offence, was facing a minimum jail sentence of five years for possessing the illegal weapon.

But a judge at Canterbury Crown Court ruled there were "exceptional" circumstances, which allowed him to pass a lower jail term.

Recorder Peter Harrison QC said: "I have found that the defendant was genuinely unaware of the contents of the holdall, partly because of the short amount of time the bag was in his possession."

Silver, of Canterbury Road, Westgate, told how he had gone to the garage to help with moving an engine – and was handed a holdall by the garage owner.

"I never looked inside. I didn’t ask him what was in the bag. I just put it in the car and returned to loading the engine. It was then that police arrived and arrested me."