Tuffley grandmother kept 600 kilovolt stun gun under her bed

GRANDMOTHER Winnie Seale has been sentenced to community service after a stun gun was found under her bed.

The mum-of-three, 51, from Tuffley Avenue, kept the weapon locked in a safe and had it for her own protection.

She owned it for several years and never once used it, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

But she did not realise the seriousness of owning the weapon and has been landed with a criminal record.

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She pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon and Judge William Hart imposed a 12 months community order with a condition that she does 80 hours unpaid work.

Police discovered the gun on October 27 after executing a search warrant at her home on an unrelated matter.

Finding a safe under her bed with a combination lock, they asked her to open it, which she did. The gun was disguised as a torch and although non-lethal, is capable of delivering a 600 kilovolt knock-out charge and would cause shock and muscle contractions to its victim.

"She said it was for her personal protection as she was a single mum living with her children and she wanted it for her protection if anyone broke in," said prosecutor Giles Nelson.

Kannan Siva, defending, said the item had been left at her home after the end of a previous relationship and she had kept it as a "measure of last resort".

She has three dependent children and although unemployed, goes to college two days a week on a hotel management course, he said.

"She wants to work and provide for her children either here or in the Bahamas."

Judge Hart told her: "You have got ambitions to work either here or in your home country.

"Those of us who have been to the Caribbean would find it difficult to see what the attraction of Tuffley is as opposed to the Bahamas – but that's a matter for you."