Armed police were sent to a house in Hoylake after two Labour election campaigners were scared off by a man they thought was threatening them with gun.
Drunken Wayne Hudson, 56, confronted the teenage boy and girl while they were leafleting at his house in Berwyn Avenue in the run up to this year’s General Election.
Anya Horwood, prosecuting told Liverpool Crown Court the defendant emerged from his house brandishing a leaflet in his hand.
She said: “He made offensive remarks about one of the candidates, calling her a Nazi.
“They tried to tell him they were leafleting on behalf of the opposing party, but that did not stop the situation.”
She said Hudson returned inside and was seen to take a black ‘gun’ from a trouser pocket while standing at a window.
Miss Horwood said: “He pointed it upwards to the ceiling, while telling them to f*** off.”
‘Don’t be putting that rubbish through my letterbox’
The frightened pair told police but when armed officers arrived Hudson said it was only a plastic gun, adding: “It’s just a toy.”
Hudson said he and a friend had been drinking and started playing with the gun, which belonged to his ex-girlfriend’s son and fired plastic darts.
He claimed the young man was abusive to him after he said “don’t be putting that rubbish through my letterbox”.
Hudson denied being aggressive or calling anyone a Nazi, but accepted that he would have been anxious if the gun had been shown to him.
He was originally charged with possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear.
However, he pleaded guilty to affray and Judge Clement Goldstone, QC, ordered the first offence to lie on the file.
The judge said Hudson had a number of previous convictions, which “best describe him as a pest with antisocial and occasional violent tendencies”.
Ben Jones, defending, said many of his client’s offences related to complaints made about his drunken conduct.
He said: “He has a self-inflicted illness that he wants to triumph over, not only for his sake but to care for his mum.”
Judge Goldstone said: “You are a pest because you cannot control your drinking and you have got to learn. At the end of the day it is up to you.”
Liverpool Crown Court
The defendant, with grey hair and wearing a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms in the dock, replied: “I want to stop drinking because it’s not me.”
The judge said: “I am going to give you an opportunity to be as good as your word.
“You cannot wave imitation firearms, let alone real firearms, at innocent members of the public who are doing no more than trying to do their job. It is quite unacceptable.
“These were youngsters and one of them was clearly very frightened by your cavalier and unpleasant behaviour.”
Hudson said: “I am ashamed of myself for scaring teenagers, I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.”
Judge Goldstone gave him a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, plus an alcohol treatment programme and 15-day rehabilitation requirement.
He also made Hudson subject to a four-month home curfew from 7pm to 7am daily.
The defendant replied: “Marvellous, thank you.”
The judge said: “Whether it’s marvellous or not, you will have a period of time to reflect at the age of 56 where your life is going to go.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/