A man who imported pepper spray was given a conditional discharge in Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

O’Neil Nelson, 49, admitted importing the prohibited weapon and having a flick knife when he appeared in court last month.

The court heard that six cans of pepper spray that were “designed or adapted for the discharge of a noxious liquid or gas” were found in Nelson’s luggage when he returned to Bermuda from North Carolina with the Royal Bermuda Regiment on April 27, 2024.

Police found the flick knife, also a prohibited weapon, at Nelson’s home in Smith’s on the same date. A charge that he imported another knife remained on file yesterday.

Nelson told TNN after the incident that he bought the spray so that he and his colleagues at a security firm could protect themselves and that he did not know it was illegal.

Magistrate Craig Attridge sentenced Nelson to a yearlong conditional discharge for the offence and ordered him to complete 375 hours of community service.

Mr Attridge warned Nelson to stay out of trouble during that time and to return to court in three months so that his hours can be reviewed.

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