A highly intoxicated man spread fear in a County Durham village as he walked around brandishing a high-high powered air rifle pointing it at people and threatening to shoot them, a court has heard.

John Michael Bostock was confronted by one "extremely brave resident" who told him to put the gun down as he was frightening people. But Bostock crouched down taking aim saying: “I’ll f*****g shoot you."

The incident in Trimdon, was brought to a safe end when one bystander took the gun off the 43-year-old while he wasn't looking. 

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Lewis Kerr, prosecuting, said the first witness had seen Bostock, who lives on Luke Street in Trimdon, in an intoxicated state brandishing an air rifle in his garden at 8.30am.

The Northern Echo: John Michael Bostock John Michael Bostock

Bostock was breaking the weapon in order to load – though there was no evidence he did.

When he told Bostock to put the weapon down, he raised the gun and pointed it at him as he walked along the street, the court was told.

Mr Kerr said: "At 11am on Church Rd, the high street in Trimdon, a retired man was leaving his car when he saw a Bostock with an air rifle in the street.

“There were a number of people around, among them his son, daughter-in-law and grandchild.

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“He approached the defendant from 20 yards away and said 'put the gun down you will frighten people'.

“The defendant stopped and adopted a crouching position pointing the gun at him and said: “will ******* shoot you.”

Bostock then walked into a chemist, seen by another witness who followed him and took the gun from him when he wasn’t looking.

He demanded the gun back but the witness refused and shortly thereafter he was arrested.

Mr Kerr said Bostock was so intoxicated he couldn’t challenge the police in any way.

His intoxication could have been due to alcohol or methadone – an empty bottle of which was found near his home.

Mr Kerr said: “The weapon was clearly used to cause distress and had the potential to cause distress."

Jane Waugh, mitigating, said: “In my submission, this was an unsophisticated offence committed in drink and wouldn't have happened otherwise.

“The weapon was not loaded and there was never any suggestion of any harm being done, because the weapon was not loaded."

Bostock pleaded guilty at Durham Crown Court to two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to cause a fear of violence on June 1.

Sentencing him on Thursday (August 11) to 20 months in jail, Judge Ray Singh said: “These are extremely serious offences.

“To ordinary members of the public, they will have feared this was a real firearm and may well have feared that it was loaded. They were not to know any different.

“You at the time were subject at the time to a community order. The court had given you the opportunity to try and show that you could behave yourself and you chose not to.”

He added: “People who carry firearms on the street pointing at individuals, threatening to shoot them while there are on court orders . . I'm afraid no community penalty in my view is appropriate or workable.

“Accordingly it must be an immediate sentence.”

 

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