A WHITECRAIG man who is registered blind has been spared a jail sentence after he admitted possessing a stun gun which was disguised as a mobile phone.

Michael Wilson had bought the firearm on the internet and claimed he had used it for a torch feature which was also built into the device.

The stun gun was then stored away in a tool box for some years at Wilson’s home at Whitecraig Avenue before being discovered by police officers who were executing a search warrant concerning another matter.

On Monday, Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that the device was found to be in a “non-operational” state and in “poor external condition” due to being cracked and parts missing.

Wilson, 32, was prosecuted under the Firearms Act which normally attracts a custodial sentence but Sheriff Robert Fife said there were “exceptional circumstances” in the case and, in his opinion, there were “no public interest concerns”.

Sheriff Fife ordered Wilson to pay a £1,000 fine as punishment.

Fiscal depute Aiden Higgins told the court that police arrived at Wilson’s home on April 19, 2016 to search the home on an unrelated matter.

During the search of a bedroom, officers found a red tool box which contained the stun gun inside.

Mr Higgins said: “Within the tool box they discovered an electronic device which they believed might be a stun gun.

“The device had the appearance of a mobile phone with an integral LED torch. But for all appearances it looked like a mobile phone.

“When the device was tested, neither the stun gun nor the torch operated.”

The fiscal added that the device had been “bought from the internet some years earlier” and the Crown accepted Wilson had used it for the torch feature.

Mr Higgins added: “There is nothing for me to dispute it had ever been used as a stun gun.

“The accused had told officers at the time he had been a mechanic but had to stop working in that area and I also discovered today that for some years the accused had visual problems and is registered blind.”

Solicitor Victoria Good, defending, said there were “exceptional circumstances” with her client and asked for Sheriff Fife to hand out a sentence rather than defer for reports.