Drunk with gun sparked fear in Nottingham city centre

Damion Pabis was found unconscious, outside the Chaucer Building, on Goldsmith Street, on August 24, Nottingham Crown Court was told on Wednesday.

When police handcuffed him, he said it was for his own protection and claimed he had a licence for it.

The 8mm pistol was unable to fire because its barrel was blocked, but it contained blank ammunition, and a knuckleduster was also found in his pocket.

Pabis received a 12 month community order for possessing an imitation gun, in August last year, and has a previous conviction for recklessly discharging a firearm, in Scotland, in February 2014.

Chris Brewin, mitigating, said Pabis, a self-employed tattooist originally from Poland, deserved credit for his guilty plea, but opposed the forfeiture of the imitation gun.

"He is at a loss to understand why it is perfectly legal to sell them,” he said, adding that Pabis, who has been in the UK for 13 years, suffers from epilepsy, and has no record of violence.

The 40-year-old, of Gladstone Street, Nottingham, pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm and an offensive weapon, on September 2.

Judge Steven Coupland noted that Pabis had been "seriously robbed" in the past and "lived in fear of it happening again."

But he told him: "It looked real and could have been used by you to cause a loud noise and create fear.

"It was a frightening item and there was no good reason for you to have it."

He sentenced him to 12 months in prison, and the imitation gun was forfeited.