A Southampton teenager who admitted to possession of an air pistol had the charges against him dropped after a firearms expert deemed the pistol was not illegal.

Josef Derrick Smith was, however, sentenced to 21 months in prison for importing cannabis resin on September 19, 2007. He received an additional 30 days for possession of cannabis, which was found on December 30 when Police officers raided his home under suspicion that he had a firearm.

At a previous hearing, Crown counsel Cindy Clarke and defence lawyer Charles Richardson agreed to canvass the opinion of a Police expert on the firearm — to judge whether it was one that is illegal in Bermuda.

Although details of the outcome were not given in court yesterday, the Crown dropped the gun charge, leaving Smith sentenced only for the two drugs matters yesterday in Magistrates' Court.

At an earlier hearing, Ms Clarke told the court the 19-year-old was detained by Customs officers after coming in on a flight at 8.30 p.m.

Smith was searched and officers found a package in the sole of each of the Nike sneakers he was wearing. He agreed that he had taken the sneakers to Jamaica with him.

The packages were analysed and found to contain 411.3 grams of cannabis resin with a street value of $41,400.

Smith pleaded guilty to the resulting importation charge.

Smith denied possessing the .177 calibre Marksman repeater pistol and 16.21 grams of the controlled drug cannabis at a court appearance on January 3.

However, on February 6, he changed his pleas to guilty and chose to stay in custody.

The court heard from Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney at 5.32 a.m. on Sunday, December 30, Police raided Smith's home and found him in the house with a young woman.

The defendant was informed he was being arrested under the suspicion of possession of a firearm.

When officers asked him if he had any drugs, Smith said he had some "weed" on the kitchen counter. During a search of his bedroom, officers found a firearm in the top drawer of a chest of drawers.

Smith said it was a BB gun and asked: "Can you just throw it in the trash or something?"

While searching the kitchen, officers found a bag of clear plastic twist containing plantlike material in a cupboard. Smith said the drugs belonged to him.

Both sentences are to run concurrent and the three months Smith has spent in custody to date will be counted as time served.