A man has produced a pepper spray canister to scare off an alleged attacker during an altercation in Darwin.

It is understood to be the first time someone has produced the spray, also known as OC spray, for self-defence purposes since a 12-month trial began this month.

Sky News can reveal the incident happened in the Darwin suburb of Coconut Grove about 7.30 am on Tuesday.

Police said two men, aged 46 and 42, were acting aggressively when a member of the public attempted to verbally de-escalate the situation.

“One of the males allegedly threatened him, prompting the man to produce a legally held OC spray canister in self-defence; however, no spray was deployed and the males fled the scene,” police said in a statement.

Police said the two alleged offenders were subsequently located and

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