Airgun fired at family barbecue, court hears

Matthew Hunt pointed the air rifle at Andrew Lane who was holding the party in his garden which backed onto the home of the gunman, said Mr Alex Warren, prosecuting.

The confrontation came after Mr Lane had showed off his air gun to a guest at the barbecue and shot at tin cans on his property, continued the lawyer.

Then 22-year-old Hunt appeared at a window in his home while holding his own air rifle around 8.20pm on June 14 last year. He wanted to know what sort of gun the other man had but was ignored and thought he was being laughed at.

He 'fired' the unloaded gun after pointing it at trees in another garden before appearing with the firearm at the fence that separated his property from that of Mr Lane who he urged to 'load his weapon.'

The request was ignored by the neighbour who called police and later told officers he had been scared and upset by the incident. Police took Hunt's gun that was low powered and required neither licence nor certificate to possess.

The defendant from Greenway Gardens, Dudley, who had a previous conviction as a youth for assault and possession of an offensive weapon, admitted using threatening words and behaviour. He was given a 12-month community order under supervision and told to pay £200 costs. The air rifle was ordered to be destroyed.