A man who has served long prison sentences for violence and burglary was twice found to have disguised handguns in his possession, a court heard.

Adam Green was linked to one of the firearms after police officers stopped and searched a car in Dartford on June 28 last year.

A plastic bag containing a homemade gun disguised as a pen and ammunition were found in the driver’s door pocket.

Prosecutor Allister Walker said a woman approached the officers and asked if she could remove baby items from the car while the search was carried out.

She was refused and no baby items were found.

Green was not present but his DNA was on the bolt lever of the 0.22 single shot handgun.

Mr Walker said the 29-year-old fled when officers went his home in Gillingham a week later on July 6 with a search warrant.

He was caught on CCTV cameras discarding an object over a low wall.

He was found hiding nearby and escorted back home. He denied disposing of anything, but officers retrieved a pink mini-torch which had been adapted to use as a gun.

A bag containing ammunition was also found.

“The barrel of the weapon contained a round, although there was no trigger,” Mr Walker told Maidstone Crown Court.

“Nonetheless, it was a firearm of course.

“It was described by an expert as a homemade firearm. It was spring loaded like the pen gun discovered.

"The defendant denied any knowledge or possession of either firearm.”

But Green, of no fixed address, admitted his guilt when he was due to stand trial.

He consulted his mother in court before pleading guilty to two offences of possessing a disguised firearm, two of possessing a firearm when prohibited and two of possessing expanding ammunition.

Judge Philip St John-Stevens was told Green, who has asperger’s syndrome, had 14 previous convictions for 33 offences.

He was jailed for six-and-a-half years in 2005 for grievous bodily harm, assault causing actual bodily harm, aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving, and six years in 2012 for conspiracy to burgle.

Paul Hogben, defending, said Green had been making “significant progress” while on remand in prison.

Adjourning sentence for reports until the week beginning January 15, the judge warned: “It will be a term of imprisonment, a significant one.

"The law demands it is at least five years unless there are exceptional circumstances.”