Sheffield man with arsenal of 99 illegal weapons including taser offered to sell them to drug dealers
Ryan Young offered to supply illegal weapons including CS gas, mace and a taser in exchange for drugs
A Sheffield man with an arsenal spanning almost 100 illegal weapons including dozens of CS gas sprays and a taser offered to sell them to dealers in exchange for drugs.
Sheffield Crown Court heard how 34-year-old Ryan Young is said to have battled an addiction to cocaine since his teens.
After being found with dozens of illegal weapons during a police search of a Sheffield property, Young claimed to have been looking after them as payment for a drug debt he had accrued.
A hearing held on April 15, 2026 heard how the illegal weapons recovered by officers included:
- 69 CS gas sprays
- 28 mace sprays
- one conductive energy device, also known as a taser
- a police baton.
Handing Young a 32-month prison sentence, Judge Anthony Dunne said that while prosecutors accepted he came into possession of the weapons to pay off a drug debt, by the time of the police raid on February 2, 2026 he was “exercising control and custody” of them.
“Because you were offering them to people you were trying to obtain drugs from.
“You were offering those weapons as payment or part payment for drugs,” Judge Dunne told Young.
Judge Dunne added: “I have to take account of the fact that you were offering to supply weapons to people you were going to buy drugs from.”
“In other words you knew you were going to supply them to people in the drugs trade.”
The hearing heard how the weapons were found in Young’s possession during a police raid of a property occupied by his former-partner, who he was banned from seeing due to a restraining order imposed by the courts.
Young has previously been convicted of stalking his former partner.
Judge Dunne told the sentencing hearing that Young had previously breached the restraining order on two earlier occasions.
He said Young appeared to have been living there at the time of the raid, seemingly with the consent of his former-partner, and noted that an application to revoke the restraining order has previously been submitted.
Judge Dunne concluded, however, that Young’s breaches of the order had been “persistent,” and he deserved to be punished for that.
Young, formerly of Oxspring Bank, Wadsley Bridge, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to offences of possessing weapons for the discharge of a noxious liquid / gas / electrical incapacitation device / thing and breaching a restraining order on conviction.
Outlining Young’s mitigation, Judge Dunne said it was positive that he is now testing negative for drugs, and that he has consented to routine testing whilst in custody.
He noted that Young now has good prospects of employment upon his release from prison, something he said should be considered as a “stabilising feature.”