Police hunt down man carrying dangerous knuckleduster taser

Photos of the taser device found during an arrest in Mansfield
The knuckleduster taser device found during an arrest in Mansfield

Officers arrested a man who was found carrying a dangerous knuckleduster taser-type device.

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

Officers immediately attended and worked with CCTV colleagues from Mansfield District Council to locate the offender in Stockwell Gate.

As two response officers approached the suspect shortly after 7.10pm on 15 July 2020, he was seen to discard something on the floor which transpired to be a taser type device. Robert Armstrong, of Burns Avenue in Mansfield, was arrested and charged with possession of a stun gun device.

The 44-year-old pleaded guilty to the offence at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on 4 November and was given an eight months prison sentence suspended for 18 months at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday (4 February 2021). He was also given a rehabilitation requirement, ordered to undertake a thinking skills program as well as pay a victim surcharge fee.

Nick Butler, District Commander for Mansfield, 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."

Cllr 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.”

Press release issued by Nottinghamshire Police

 

 

Published: February 8th 2021