Victim left terrified in scenes of madness in Plymouth car park

A man who brandished a realistic looking gun at a group of people in a city car park has been jailed. Appearing at a sentencing hearing at Plymouth Crown Court, Mathuusan Kirupakaran heard how his actions on June 3, 2022 in Plymouth city centre left one of his victims "completely and utterly terrified".

Prosecutor Nigel Hall explained how the incident came about after Kirupakaran's girlfriend approached a number of people in the area of Courtney Street car park in the early hours of June 3, 2022 asking for a cigarette. This was refused by a female in the group and a short while later an altercation took place which turned violent, all captured on CCTV.

Police, who later interviewed the 24-year-old, from Napier Terrace, Plymouth, said that Kirupakaran and his girlfriend, along with another woman, had taken the Remington Soft Air Pistol out with them to shoot balloons in the car park.

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Mr Hall explained that Kirupakaran brandished the weapon after he became concerned for his girlfriend who was, by this stage, being pinned down on the ground. Another person then became involved and the court heard how Kirupakaran appeared at this point to be trying to break up the fight and protect his girlfriend, acting as a peacemaker.

During the altercation the court heard Kirupakaran grabbed hold of the woman holding his girlfriend, but she bit him on the hand.

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The court heard Kirupakaran's girlfriend resumed the fight, shoving one of the group as she walked away. At that point he then pulled out the realistic looking pistol and pointed it one of the group of four people. The court heard that Kirupakaran "cocked" the weapon and pressed it against one of them.

Mr Hall said that one of the victims was left "completely and utterly terrified", entirely unaware that it was only an imitation firearm.

Police said Kirupakaran was later traced and armed response officers arrested him at his home.

In mitigation his advocate said Kirupakaran had not been in trouble since the incident two years ago and had always been "hard working". The court heard that a university degree he was on at that point was stopped and he suffered anxiety as a result. In addition he lost the job he had at the time following his arrest.

Judge Peter Johnson said that it was an "extremely frightening situation you put them in". He said he took into account the pre-sentence report and the reference from an employer which spoke "highly" of Kirupakaran.

However, he said that what aggravated the case was how the 24-year-old had caused fear to all four people, leaving them "shocked and trying to process what had happened". He also noted that Kirupakaran had a previous conviction for possession of a bladed article for which he received a community order.

He also noted the apology to the four victims and his good work ethic, but added that there was an element of "immaturity which we see in young males particularly" which he said was referenced in the pre-sentence report.

However, he could only give him credit of 12 percent rather than 25 percent because he did not offer a guilty plea at the earliest stage. Taking into account all the aggravating and mitigating factors Judge Johnson passed a sentence of three and a half years, of which he would have to serve half before being released on licence.