A BASINGSTOKE man has been handed a conditional discharge for possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.

Luis Gonzales, of Kenilworth Road, was discovered on Oxford Road, Reading, on May 28, last year, with a black Beretta pistol, which was CO2 gas powered, semi-automatic and pellet firing.

He appeared at West Hampshire Magistrates Court on January 26 when he pleaded guilty to the offence.

Magistrates gave the 40-year-old a conditional discharge for 18 months.

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