A POLICE officer investigating reports of a man armed with an electronic stun gun discovered the device and a lock knife in the bag of a 20-year-old man.

Blackburn magistrates heard Hamzah Yaqub told police he had forgotten the items were in his bag.

Yaqub, 20, of Lancaster Place, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to possessing a lock knife and a stun gun.

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He was ordered to do 180 hours unpaid work and pay £85 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

Philippa White, prosec-uting, said the officer had first been called to Lancaster Place following a report of a man with a stun gun.

A later report said there was a man sitting outside King George’s Hall with a stun gun.

“The officer recognised him from his earlier investigation and told him he was going to search him,” said Mrs White. “The stun gun which was recovered from his bag was disguised as a mobile phone.”

Gareth Price, defending, said Yaqub had used the knife at home, thrown it in the bag and forgotten about it. He had bought the stun gun a couple of months earlier.

“It is significant that neither of these items was used to threaten anybody,” said Mr Price.