Former Tauranga city councillor and businessman Bradley Keith Shipton yesterday changed his plea to guilty on a charge of unlawfully possessing a 1911 model .45 Colt pistol.

The Tauranga District Court heard that the World War II memento, was found in a roof cavity in the garage of Shipton's home. Judge Michael Hobbs is expected to sentence the former detective tomorrow.

Shipton had been asked by the family of the man who brought the pistol home to dispose of it in 2001.