A DRUG dealer has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after police found a stun gun disguised as a mobile phone in his garage.

Donald Feltham, 45, told officers he had only been repairing the weapon for a friend, but nevertheless he was told at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday that he faced a possible five year jail term for admitting one count of possessing a disguised firearm.

The weapon was seized, alongside more than 1kg of cannabis, MDMA, amphetamine and magic mushrooms, when his flat in Wickham Road, Pokesdown, was raided by police on October 16 last year.

The illegal substances in his home were valued at a total of more than £8,000.

Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Fuller QC said: "You said to police at interview that a friend had given it (the stun gun) to you. It was not working and he asked you to repair it.

"In the circumstances there can't have been much justification for you to believe he would put it to a lawful purpose. You were involved in the supply of drugs."

The judge said that, nevertheless, in view of Feltham's relatively light criminal record - consisting of one driving offence and one 2012 conviction for possessing illegal drugs - he would not impose the 'minimum term' for the firearms offence of five years.

At a plea hearing, Feltham admitted possessing a jar of Psilocin, commonly called magic mushrooms. A day before his trial he admitted five further counts - possessing 387g of skunk cannabis with intent to supply, possessing 871g of cannabis resin with intent to supply, possessing 83.7g MDMA and possessing 52.8g of amphetamine, alongside the aforementioned firearms offence.

Representing the defendant, Robert Grey said Feltham had discovered the drugs in a rucksack and decided to keep them.

Of the stun gun, he said: "He treated it like an item of curiosity, a curio. He tried to get it working. He was unaware of the seriousness of the offence."

He said his client had worked as a miller in a plastics factory for 14 years, and now ran a maintenance and repairs business from his garage.

"He has had difficulties with amphetamines, he has not been able to stop taking them," said Mr Grey.

However, he said Feltham had managed to give up cannabis, having started taking it in his teens.