A MAN who “panicked” and tried to hide a bag containing drugs and a knuckle duster from police has been fined.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard that Daniel Horn, 18, was the rear-seat passenger in a car that was pulled over by police in Southampton at about 11pm on May 23.

Officers searched the vehicle and found that Horn, of Weston Lane, Southampton, had a bag with him containing £195 worth of cannabis and a knuckle duster (a brass weapon used in hand-to-hand combat).

He told police that the weapon was for self defence, and no evidence was found that he had intended to supply the drug.

Horn pleaded guilty to possessing both the drug and the weapon.

Mike Carreras, defending, said: “This was not the best outcome for a night out with three others.

“So far as the knuckle duster is concerned, he had armed himself because he had a bike taken off him.

“He has taken up employment as a scaffolder, and this shows a young man who you would not expect to be sitting in the back of a car driven by a person known to the police for drug involvement.”

Horn was fined £250 for the drug possession, £350 for possessing the knuckle duster, and ordered to pay a £35 victim surcharge.