Mansfield man handed 8 months suspended prison sentence for carrying dangerous knuckleduster taser

Robert Armstrong, of Burns Avenue, was arrested and charged with possession of a stun gun device after he was found carrying a dangerous knuckleduster taster-type device.

It comes after Nottinghamshire Police received a call that a man was walking in the Market Place area of Mansfield carrying what looked like a taser.

Police attended the scene and worked with CCTV colleagues from the town’s district council to locate Armstrong in Stockwell Gate.

While two response officers approached the 44-year-old suspect shortly after 7.10pm on July 15, he was seen to discard something on the floor which turned out to be a taser type device.

Armstrong pleaded guilty to the offence at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on November 4 last year and was given an eight months prison sentence suspended for 18 months at Nottingham Crown Court on February 4, 2021.

He was also given a rehabillitation requirement, ordered to undertake a thinking skills program as well as pay a victim surcharge fee.

District Commander for Mansfield Nick Butler said: "This case highlights how seriously we take reports of people seen carrying weapons and how we can work quickly with our partners to locate any suspect.

"In this instance, Armstrong was indeed carrying a highly dangerous weapon, which we were able to seize and this is something we take extremely seriously.

"We encourage members of the public to report incidents like this to us and tell us if they have any concerns about crimes in their area so we can carry out our robust investigations."

Councillor Marion Bradshaw, Portfolio Holder for Safer Communities, Housing and Wellbeing, said: “We are pleased our CCTV team was able to quickly locate the offender in this case, which has resulted in a dangerous weapon being taken off the streets.

“Our highly trained CCTV operators monitor around 160 cameras from our state-of-the-art control room 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep Mansfield safe.

"They work very closely with the Police and our own Neighbourhood Wardens to help reduce and prevent crime and disorder throughout the entire district.”

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