A FORMER nightclub bouncer was fined £250 by magistrates yesterday for carrying an electric stun gun.

The gun fell out of 40-year-old Kevin Lewis' hand while he was involved in a confrontation at The Lounge in Darlington town centre, two days before Christmas.

Simon Crowther, prosecuting, told South Durham magistrates that Lewis had been suspended from his security job at The Lounge at the time of the offence.

Lewis, of Cornwall Avenue, Darlington, admitted possessing a weapon designed to discharge noxious liquid or gas.

Stephen Andrews, mitigating, said his client had gone to The Lounge after hearing that a group of doormen from Newcastle were trying to "muscle in" on the property.

Mr Andrews said he decided that, while there, he would return the gun to a member of the club's staff, who had bought it on the Internet.

"He did not anticipate that there was going to be any trouble. He tried to calm the situation. There was no suggestion that he tried to use the gun in any way."

He said Lewis had since left the bouncer trade because it was too "problematic", and was now installing satellite TV systems.

Magistrates' bench chairman Colin Beadle said the offence was a serious one.

"If everyone in Darlington was to walk around with a stun gun, then things would get out of hand very quickly," he said.

Mr Beadle ordered that the weapon be destroyed and Lew-is to pay £55 prosecution costs.