A former police officer who kept a can of pepper spray after leaving the force has pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon.

Oliver Morwell-Neave, from Ash, near Canterbury, claimed he forgot he still had the canister of PAVA incapacitant spray - a synthetic form of pepper spray - after resigning from Kent Police in August 2022.

The 24-year-old, who served as a PC in Margate and Dover, was also charged with theft after allegedly failing to hand back the canister and items including his uniform, warrant card and other IDs when he stepped down.

Morwell-Neave originally denied possessing a weapon for the discharge of a noxious liquid, but changed his plea to guilty before he was due to stand trial at Margate Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, August 7.

However, the theft charge - which he denied - was dropped when the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence.

Magistrates heard Morwell-Neave, had the canister between July 31, 2022, and March 30 last year, when it was discovered hidden in a boot at the bottom of a kit holdall bag by officers who went to search his home.

Prosecutor Piers Restell said: “Kent Police was contacted and an investigation was started. A search of his home was carried out and the item, a PAVA spray canister of the brand used by Kent Police, was found.

“Technically it’s a firearm which has to be logged in and logged out again and his time in the force was from August 17, 2020, to August 4, 2022.”

Mr Restell also told magistrates that during the time Morwell-Neave had been an officer, he had been issued with three such canisters - the first of which was given to him when he was stationed in Dover.

The prosecutor added: “He then moved to Margate and was issued another by his sergeant and signed for it, but then he had some personal issues and went off sick.

“When he returned to duty he was allocated more kit including another (PAVA) spray and then he left the police.”

The court also heard that after Morwell-Neave resigned due to mental health issues, efforts were made to retrieve all his kit, but only two of the three canisters were returned.

Mr Restell added: “This was subsequently found in his possession and had not been returned as it should have been.”

Ian Bond, defending, said if the CPS had responded to the case correspondence he had sent since Morwell-Neave appeared at magistrates’ court last year, the hearing could have been held at an earlier date as his client had decided to plead guilty to the weapon charge some months ago.

Mr Bond added: “He’s a 24-year-old man with no previous convictions. He moved from Oxford to this area at an early age and later attended the Royal School of Military Engineering in Dover.

“His parents divorced when he was 12 and he became an anxious young man and was diagnosed with ADHD.

“When he turned 18, he declined a university offer as he wanted to be a police officer. He applied in 2018 and was then a Special Constable until August 2020 when he became a full-time officer in Dover.

“In 2021, he was the first at the scene of a fatal road crash when a young child was killed. After that, his mental health deteriorated.

Mr Bond explained Morwell-Neave had taken time off sick because of his mental health decline and had tried to go back on shift, but found it hard to concentrate while at work.

Magistrates also heard that after more time off sick, a disciplinary meeting with the force was held and his issues were discussed. Morwell-Neave was told he could be dismissed because he had taken so much time away from work, but was encouraged to resign and did so.

A meeting was then arranged with his former manager so Morwell-Neave could hand over his kit, but only two canisters of PAVA spray were returned.

Mr Bond added: “He was given a PAVA spray when he was stationed in Dover and a second when he was Margate, but then he went on sick leave. His manager was also on leave and when he came back to work, he was issued another in error, so three PAVA sprays were issued and two were returned.

“The facts are that the second one (he’d been given) had been in a kit bag in a boot and he had just forgotten about it.

“It was never kept intentionally and it was not used. It was kept in the kit bag and never used and he was arrested and charged as a result.

“He is now at Essex University doing a law degree and is trying to make a new start. This case has been a great worry to him. He has lived and breathed it.

“What was the police protocol with its stock list? It’s an unfortunate tale.”

Magistrates fined Morwell-Neave £162 for the offence and ordered he pay £450 costs and a victim surcharge of £65.

The bench also ordered the PAVA spray be destroyed.