A magistrate has expressed doubt about a story from a man who said someone else had left an illegal weapon in his car.
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But he told Bowen that carrying a prohibited weapon, especially the one he had, was still a serious offence.
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"I take a dim view of knuckledusters," Mr Funston said.
"Do people really just leave knuckledusters in their car?"
Bowen, 27, of Jindera, has pleaded guilty in Albury Local Court to two charges of possess or use a prohibited weapon without a permit.
The second charge related to an ornamental sword found at his home.
The court was told this weapon had been "given to him some years before" and that he "did not realise it was there".
Mr Funston said he accepted this reasoning and there was no indication that Bowen was going to use the sword.
The court was told how Bowen was pulled over for a random breath test in Mate Street, North Albury, on May 4 about 10.50pm.
After police conducted checks, they told him he would be searched.
When asked if he had anything in his pockets, "the accused reached into the pocket of his pants and removed a set of knuckledusters".
Defence lawyer Angus Lingham said that while Bowen regularly got into trouble in his younger years, his only blemish of the past decade was a driving while unlicensed.
"He had a very difficult childhood," Mr Lingham said.
"But he has genuinely turned his life around and has excluded influences that were negative to him."
Bowen was released on a 12-month community corrections order.