A 37-YEAR-OLD man who admitted stealing a Taser stun-gun from a plain-clothes policeman was jailed for 18 months on Friday.

Barry John Roberts, of Penrhyn Avenue, Maesgeirchen, Bangor, Gwynedd, pleaded guilty to theft in the city’s high street on July 4 and possessing the Taser without authority. He claimed at Caernarfon crown court that the missing weapon was hidden behind the Three Crowns pub at Bangor.

Prosecutor Patrick Gartland said the officer had approached another man who resisted a drugs’ search. While they were on the ground, the Taser vanished from his belt.

CCTV footage had been examined and Roberts was spotted holding the Taser. The full Taser wasn’t recovered. Roberts had maintained that the detached stun-gun had been on the pavement and he gave it to another man, counsel added. He denied selling it for cash or drugs.

Ryan Rothwell, defending, said it was an “opportunistic” offence and “stupid mistake” when Roberts was heavily medicated on diazepam. His girlfriend had warned he was going to jail, Roberts panicked and hid the weapon behind the Three Crowns.

“He doesn’t know if it will still be there,” Mr Rothwell remarked. Judge Huw Rees said during a melee Roberts saw the opportunity to steal the officer’s stun-gun which hadn’t been recovered.

“Even if you are correct and you deposited it behind a public house just off the high street, that means it could be in anybody’s hands, a drug addict, a child.” Roberts had a “poor” record for dishonesty, the judge added.