A SUSPENDED jail sentence has been handed to a man who has been convicted of weapons offences in Whitehaven.

Nicholas Vose, 41, committed the offences in the town’s Catherine Street on January 15, Carlisle’s Rickergate court heard.

He admitted illegally possessing an imitation firearm and obstructing a police officer.

Vose, of Chorley New Road, Horwich, Bolton, pleaded not guilty to illegally having a knife but was convicted after a trial.

District Judge John Temperley imposed 20 weeks' custody but suspended the term for a year, accepting that immediate custody would have a harmful effect on others.

The sentence includes up to 10 days of rehabilitation. The knife and the imitation pistol – a Mod Lady K – will be destroyed.