A JUDGE has called for two police officers to be commended for tackling a man armed with a fearsome-looking pistol.

Craig Waddington had to be shot with a Tasar twice when he refused to put down the weapon at a house in Hartlepool.

The drama two days after Christmas has left the two officers - who feared they would be shot - needing counselling.

One is considering whether he will carry on with his career, while his colleague says she has struggled with day-to-day life.

The gun turned out to be an unloaded and uncharged air pistol, but looked real, Judge Michael Taylor said at Teesside Crown Court.

He told 25-year-old Waddington he could have been shot dead if a firearms team had been called to the scene.

"The courts always treat this sort of thing seriously," he said. "Police officers should not have to face this.

"In the best traditions of British policing, these two police officer did that and faced you down, and put the safety of others before their own.

"This sort of case can only be met by an immediate custodial sentence."

Waddington, of Chepstow Walk, Hartlepool, was jailed for 18 months after he admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

His barrister, Jim Withyman, described the incident as "drunken stupidity" after Waddington had argued with his girlfriend.

He said he had sought help for mental health and alcohol problems since it happened, and has the chance of a job.

"The defendant clearly realises that his stupidity has had a number of ramifications for other people," said Mr Withyman.

"He has done everything he can to try to make sure something like this doesn't happen again . . . he greatly regrets what he has done."

Judge Taylor asked prosecutor Emma Atkinson to bring the conduct of the officers to the attention of the chief constable of Cleveland Police, and said: "They deserve to be commended."

He told Waddington: "They bravely stayed on the scene and pleaded with you to put the weapon down. You continued to wave it and behave in a threatening and violent manner.

"If it had been loaded and fired, it may not have caused lethal harm. Neither police officer was to know that.

"You were extremely fortunate that they didn't withdraw from the scene and call for an armed response unit to attend, because if your up behaviour had continued in the light of what they saw, you may not have been standing in the dock."