Police called to gun incident at man's house - but it was a plastic toy with a vacuum pipe
Serious alarm about the risk of danger to the public was sparked when police were called to reports of a potentially life-threatening gun incident at a man's home on Christmas Day.
Officers feared that a dangerous and frightening situation might develop but it became clear that the agitated man who was confronting them was actually holding a plastic toy gun with a vacuum pipe attached to it.
Drug user John Urwin was pretending that the toy gun was real but the police finally realised what was really happening and, after three hours, they got into his house, Hull Crown Court heard.
Urwin, 42, of Carlisle Street, Goole, admitted possessing an imitation firearm, a plastic toy gun, with intent to cause fear of violence to police.
Jazmine Lee, prosecuting, told an earlier hearing that police were called to Urwin's house after reports that he had a gun. The incident started just after 4pm and it was "perhaps dark" by then, not helping the police to see what was happening.
Urwin was pretending to have a gun but it was actually a plastic toy gun with a vacuum pipe. It was three hours before police were able to gain access to the property. He was not arrested until 9.05pm but he told the police immediately that it was not a real gun.
The police were initially concerned that they were dealing with a serious incident. A lot of anxiety was caused to the police, who thought that Urwin had a firearm in his house.
He had convictions for nine previous offences.
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Urwin had originally been released from prison on December 18 after serving a 14-month sentence imposed in November last year. The Christmas Day incident took place and he was later recalled to prison until the middle of July this year.
Sentence had been deferred on March 7 for six months until he had served his period of recall in custody. He was released on July 18 and he was on bail at the time of a resumed hearing.
David Godfrey, mitigating, told the latest hearing that it was "quite a rudimentary firearm" that Urwin had with him on Christmas Day. He had been suffering difficulties around the time of Christmas and he had been estranged from his two sons for a short period of time.
Urwin had previously been jailed before being released and he was at an extremely low ebb at the time of the Christmas Day incident.
"He has cleaned himself up," said Mr Godfrey. "He is no longer using crack cocaine. He has got a job as a cleaner. He is engaging well with his offender manager on post-sentence supervision." Urwin was giving negative drugs tests.
Judge John Thackray KC said that it was a serious offence and Urwin had been very fortunate that sentence was originally deferred on March 7 rather than him being given another immediate prison sentence. Urwin had kept out of trouble since then. He seemed to have taken the chance that he had been given when sentence was deferred.
Urwin was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and 30 days' rehabilitation.
During a previous hearing when Urwin was jailed last year for 14 months, the court heard that he angrily smashed up a BMW car, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage, in a nasty "revenge attack" after discovering to his horror that his girlfriend was seeing another man.
Urwin believed that he was still in a relationship with the woman and he was left "devastated" when the new man in her life answered her door "in his boxers". He was "upset and angry" and launched a repeated attack with a mallet on his rival's car. The man heard loud smashing and banging noises while the damage was being caused, the court heard that day.
Urwin admitted causing criminal damage on July 20 last year and breaching a 16-month suspended prison sentence imposed on April 4 last year for assault causing actual bodily harm.
The victim was a different girlfriend and he left her with two black eyes, cuts, bruises and swelling.