A MAN has been jailed for owning an air rifle despite a ban because of a previous prison sentence.

Akbar Hussain, of Jasmine Walk, Banbury, admitted one count of possessing a firearm when prohibited and was sentenced to nine months in prison.

When police attended the 26-year-old’s home on June 27 last year for an unrelated matter they noticed a green gun bag leaning against a wall.

They asked Hussain who it belonged to and he told them: “It’s mine”. Inside it they discovered a break barrel spring-powered air rifle.

Criminals who have spent three-months or more in prison are barred from owning such firearms for five years.

Hussain was previously jailed for three months for a common assault carried out on April 14, 2011.

Passing sentence Judge Mary Jane Mowat said the gun was dangerous as the defendant said he used it to kill rabbits.

She said: “The national feeling about guns being what it is, I have no choice but to give you a custodial sentence.”