A father-of-five tried to sell an illegal taser weapon on Facebook in exchange for drugs.

Police raided Alan Main’s Strood home but as officers arrived at the front door, the heroin addict tried to scarper from an upstairs window.

The 37-year-old then discovered other policemen waiting below him.

Maidstone Crown Court heard he had been advertising the weapon for sale on social media the day before the police raid.

Prosecutor Imogen Nelson said Main “was persuaded to return through the window” and was then arrested.

After checking his mobile phone for the Facebook message, police found the weapon in a zip-up bag in the kitchen.

Main, of Columbine Road, has been jailed for possessing the illegal weapon and intending to sell it in June last year.

'Possessing this illegal weapon is serious but offering it for sale is even more serious,' Judge Adele Williams

His barrister, David Lyons, said Main was not a dealer in firearms but at the time just wanted to get money for drugs.

“He is addicted to hard drugs and just wanted cash to buy drugs, that’s why he was selling the weapon,” Mr Lyons said.

Judge Adele Williams jailed him for a total of three years for the two firearm offences, of possessing the weapon with intent to sell and possession of the weapon.

She said: “Possessing this illegal weapon is serious but offering it for sale is even more serious.

“Tasers are capable of causing serious injury.”

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Medway