A MAN was told that he was lucky to be alive after believing the stun gun he bought was an electric shaver.

Mohammed Khan told police who found the illegal weapon in a raid at his home that he had bought it from a man two months earlier.

"He told officers that he was approached by a stranger at the back of a takeaway," Eleanor Gleeson, prosecuting, told Bolton Crown Court.

"This stranger sold him a box, with what Mr Khan believed was an electric shaver in.

"When the defendant returned home he attempted to charge the item and shave with it but it failed to charge up."

Khan said that he put the device in a drawer in his bedroom and forgot about it.

"He claimed he had not seen the writing or realised that the prongs were part of a stun gun device, having never seen one before," said Miss Gleeson.

Officers told him that he was "lucky to be alive" as the stun gun had charged when tested by forensic firearms experts.

"He stated that if he had known the device was a stun gun he would have acted differently," said Miss Gleeson.

The court heard that the device was found when police raided 26-year-old Khan's home in Roland Road, Deane on May 1 last year.

But The Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Martin Walsh was told that, just days later, Khan suffered a stroke which has left him needing round-the-clock care.

"The supposition is that the stress of this put his blood pressure through the roof and that brought the stroke on," said Stuart Neale, defending.

He added that Khan's life has now "been overtaken by the personal tragedy of his health" leaving him unable to work, with no money and being supported by his family.

Khan, who appeared in court using a walking stick, pleaded guilty to possessing an illegal stun gun.

In view of his health difficulties and previous good character, Judge Walsh sentenced Khan to a conditional discharge for two years and ordered that the stun gun be forfeited and destroyed.