A woman's terror sparked a city centre hunt for a gunman, but the "weapon" she saw a man pull from his pocket turned out to be a lighter made to look like a gun.
As Joe Brown walked past the woman near the Centre For Life in Newcastle, she saw him partially withdraw an item shaped like a gun and make a clicking noise as he pulled the trigger. She was sufficiently concerned to call police, but when officers caught up with him, it was, in fact, a lighter he had bought on Facebook.
Woman's 'shocked and terrified' reaction
The court heard that on March 24 this year, the woman was walking near the Centre For Life when her attention was drawn to a man walking past her. Claire Armstrong, prosecuting, said: "Her attention was drawn to him because he pulled something from his pocket which made a loud clicking sounds.
"She saw what she thought was a black gun. The defendant had pulled what she believed to be the trigger."
She said it was a quick encounter but she thought he was loading a gun. She said he didn't pull the gun out of his pocket, just the trigger and handle. "She didn't think he had seen her and he didn't point it at her but she felt shocked and terrified."
Police search and arrest
Police searched the area for the reported "gunman" but couldn't find him. However, half an hour later officers spotted him on Broad Chare. He cooperated with them and told them it was a lighter, later saying he only used it as such, having bought it on Facebook.
Brown, 32, of Peth Head, Hexham, who has 62 previous convictions and had been given a community order two weeks previously for making threats to kill, pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm in public.
Judge's sentencing remarks
Sentencing him to a 12-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work, Judge Robert Spragg said: "There's no suggestion you aimed it at anyone or made threats. Obviously this was a shocking and distressing incident for the person who saw it and it's incredibly stupid for you to be carrying it in a public place."
David Ward, defending, said: "It was simply pulling the lighter part way out of the pocket and going straight back in. It was not even used to light a cigarette. Clearly (the woman) would have been concerned and she was right to go to the police - it could have been anything and she didn't know it was a lighter."
The court heard Brown has mental health conditions.
