A scavenger who found a replica gun and a bag of ammunition in a skip could be facing a long jail sentence after he took them home rather than handing them into the police.
Steven Hale took the weapon back to his home in Exeter and kept it out of curiosity without realising it is a prohibited weapon which carries a five year minimum sentence for anyone who possesses one.
The gun was a replica of an 1851 US Navy Weston revolver but had been adapted with the fitting of a shorter and thinner barrel which was capable of firing .22 ammunition.
Hale, aged 51, of Myrtle Road, Exeter, admitted possessing a prohibited firearms, 266 rounds of .22 ammunition and a single expanding bullet which did not fit the gun.
Judge Erik Salomonsen adjourned his case at Exeter Crown Court and ordered a probation pre sentence report. He said he law imposes a minimum sentence unless there are exceptional circumstances.
He told Hale:"Whether the court does or does not find these exceptional circumstances will be up to the sentencing judge. You must prepare yourself for a prison sentence and should put your affairs in order. I make no promises about the eventual outcome."
Mr David Bowen, prosecuting, said the gun and ammunition were recovered when police executed a warrant as part of a different investigation in June. Hale made no comment in interview.
Mr David Sapiecha, defending, said Hale has significant responsibilities as a carer for his wife and is more worried about what will happen to her rather than him if he is sent to jail.
He said:"The gun is in very brief terms a replica of an American Civil War era Navy gun adapted so .22 bullets can be fired from it.
"His position is that he saw a bag in a skip around the corner from his home and thought it looked incongruous because the rest of the skip was filled with builders' rubble.
"He took it out of curiosity and thought it looked like a toy or a replica, although when he got home he saw the bullets. He had it for about three months before the police came and found it in a cupboard.
"He had not revealed its presence to anyone and had no idea what he was going to do with it. The fact that the bag also contained one expanding bullet which could not be fired adds credence to his account of finding them together."
