A THUG caught with a stun gun he claimed to have forgotten about has been jailed for five years.

Joshua Igwe had the device which had been disguised as a torch at the flat in Airdrie on April 9, 2021.

The 26-year-old first offender was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.

He had earlier been convicted of a charge under the Firearms Act of possessing the stun gun.

Lord Colbeck said there were "no exceptional circumstances" which meant Igwe could avoid the mandatory five-year sentence.

The judge told him: "You did not give evidence at the trial. 

"The account you have given the social worker (in a pre-sentencing report) is that you found a broken taser in your house, in a cupboard and forgot about it.

"Your view is that one of your associates must have left it in the house."

Igwe had pleaded guilty before the trial to being central in a gang attack on his neighbour Kieran Glasgow on May 29, 2021.

The mob had stormed into the flat in Airdrie before Igwe repeatedly struck the man on the head, face and body with a baseball bat.

Mr Glasgow managed to escape, but was soon found injured in a nearby street.

Prosecutor Isabella Ennis KC today told the court: "He had no recollection how he came to be there or then being taken to hospital by ambulance."

The victim had a broken tooth, extensive bruising and an eye injury.

Igwe was later traced and police found the blood-stained baseball bat in his home.

But, he initially denied being involved in the attack claiming the weapon had been "planted" in the flat.

Igwe pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Glasgow to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

Lord Colbeck sentenced him to 21 months for this, but it will run alongside the five-year term for having the stun gun.