JAILED: Teenage drug dealer who disguised stun guns as phones

Jake Rogers, aged 18, of Phillip Road, Great Bridge, was spotted by police among a group of three men in a street. While the officers were able to stop and take details of two of the men, the other person fled.

Stephen Bailey, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court that a short while later the officers searched a hedge on March 27 and discovered the stun gun disguised as a mobile phone, which was usable and discharged. Rogers' fingerprint was found on it.

On April 15, police visited Rogers' home, where they found the defendant and another stun gun disguised as a mobile phone, which was also usable.

During their search, the officers also discovered a knuckle duster, air rifle and 110 grams of cannabis.

Mr Bailey said Rogers, who pleaded guilty to possessing firearms and cannabis with intent to supply and one count of common assault, had kept the weapons 'to protect his trade'.

He added the assault related to an attack on an ex-girlfriend he saw in the street.

She noticed him walking past and tried to avoid his gaze by pulling a hood she was wearing because it was raining further over her face, but he saw her and threw a hot cup of coffee over her, causing a red mark on her face.

Blondelle Thompson, mitigating, said Rogers had been with his girlfriend for three years, but they split up when she told him she had been unfaithful and the emotions were still strong when he saw her in the street on January 12.

She added he had 'lost his way' and had difficulties coping with the loss of his mother following a long period of ill health when he was younger.

Sentencing Rogers, judge Martin Walsh said: "It is disturbing to see that someone as young as you has involved yourself in quite entrenched offending."

He ordered Rogers to serve two years detention in a young offenders institution.