A drunken Ramsgate man – caught with a Beretta-style revolver – later told police he had no idea how he got it.

Axl Parker, 21, was chased through the High Street after police spotted his silhouette in the early hours of the morning in October last year.

Prosecutor Donna East told Canterbury Crown Court that Parker dropped the weapon during the pursuit before throwing it over a seven-foot wall.

When it was later examined it was discovered to be a West German 8mm blank-firing imitation revolver “in the style of a Beretta”.

Ms East said that although blank cartridges were in the weapon the barrel was blocked and it could not be fired without modification.

Parker, of Marden Avenue, pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm and was jailed for six months.

Nick Jones, defending, said: “He doesn’t know how he came to be in possession of this item. There is some evidence that he was quite highly intoxicated. He simply can’t recall how he came to have it but it was never brandished.”

Judge Nigel Van der Bijl said that the numbers of people possessing firearms was on the increase and the courts treated having any sort of weapon as a serious offence.

“There is something of a mystery why you had this...possibly just to show off.”