A SPECIAL constable who kept a banned revolver hidden in a jukebox has been spared jail because he inherited from a famous Antarctic explorer.

Anton Calvert was caught with the rare air-powered weapon, a can of police-issue Pava spray and a taser in a ‘man-cave’ at his home in Brixham in April this year.

Colleagues were called to an unrelated incident at the family home and discovered the firearms in the locked cash box of a vintage juke-box in the outbuilding.

The gun was inherited from his stepfather, the explorer Captain Martin Phelps, who was skipper of the British Antarctic Survey research ship John Biscoe. His career was so distinguished that an islet in the Wilhelm Archipelago was named Phelps Rock in his honour.

It was a revolver which was designed to fire high velocity, air powered pellets, and fell foul of Britain’s strict gun laws because it was potentially lethal.

That meant it was a prohibited weapon and its possession made the owner liable to a mandatory five-year sentence unless a judge found there were exceptional circumstances.

Calvert also had six cartridges but they were harmless because they had no gas in them and he did not own the specialist pump needed to fill them.

A check on the gun was conducted by the Royal Armouries and showed it had been made between 1987 and 1991, at a time when Captain Phelps had been undertaking his final voyages.

Calvert had served for two years as a special constable with the Devon and Cornwall police, working throughout South Devon,  and was due to become a full time officer later this year. He is likely to be dismissed as a result of his conviction.

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: ‘Anton Calvert, aged 40 and from Paignton, was arrested on Tuesday 24 May 2022. Calvert was a special constable at the time of the arrest and was suspended immediately.

‘The Professional Standards Department are aware, and an investigation will commence following the finalisation of the court process.’

Calvert, aged 40, formerly of Brixham but now of Belle Vue Road, Paignton, admitted three firearms offences and possession of a noxious spray when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court.

He was ordered to do 200 hours unpaid community work and pay £250 costs by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court. He ordered forfeiture and destruction of all the weapons.

He said: ‘It is of significance that the item was an heirloom inherited from a much loved member of the family.’

He said it was clear the revolver could not have been used because Calvert did not have the ability to charge the air cartridges.

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said police were making other inquiries at Calvert’s former home in Brixham when they found the revolver, cartridges and taser in a locked section of a jukebox in his ‘man cave’.

They also found a Pava spray with his police kit, which he said he had been given permission to take home for one night but had failed to return.

She said Calvert had been due to join the force as a regular constable in October this year until the discovery of the items and his arrest.

Mr Rupert Taylor, defending, said Calvert was given the gun, cartridges and taser as mementoes of his stepfather, Captain Phelps, who died in 2017. He had no intention of using them and they posed no danger to anyone.

They were not hidden in the jukebox but kept there because the old cash box at the bottom was lockable and secure.

Mr Taylor said the cartridges were completely empty and could not be used without specialist kit to fill them with compressed air and to add a pellet.

He said there were exceptional circumstances because the prohibited weapon was completely harmless and posed no danger to anyone.