Louts' victim jailed for pulling out gun
A RECLUSE who reached his wits' end and produced a replica gun after being tormented by a gang of "louts" has been jailed.
Matthew Alcock tried to stand up to the gang in Cheadle by pulling out the imitation firearm after reaching the end of his tether following a period of abuse.
The vulnerable 32-year-old felt his actions would get the group off his back, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard.
But the defendant's plan backfired and he was yesterday jailed for eight months.
Prosecutor Philip Beardwell told the court that Alcock, of Victory Crescent, took the replica gun out to confront the gang at about 4.30pm on February 18 last year.
But they were not scared and were then seen to chase Alcock down the street.
The defendant was arrested at just after 6pm. Officers found two replica handguns, three air rifles, a meat cleaver and a knife inside the house. A Staffordshire Police armourer examined the air rifles and found the defendant did not have a certificate to hold one of them.
During police interview, Alcock claimed the group had been picking on him all day.
He denied having any handguns in the street and said he fled the scene after being intimidated by the group.
He added he had been left the guns by his grandfather.
The defendant pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and one charge of possessing an air rifle without holding a firearm certificate.
Written pleas, accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service, stated he inherited the guns from his grandfather, and they had only been used by his grandfather for shooting at targets in the back yard.
Alcock did not know he needed a certificate to possess the air rifle.
He added he had been subjected to bullying and verbal abuse over a period of time and produced the imitation handgun as he wanted to stand up to the complainant.
A witness saw Alcock running out the gateway of his auntie's house and the complainant gesturing with two fingers like he was waving a gun.
Joanne Wallbanks, defending, said the defendant was "rather vulnerable" and a "recluse in latter years".
She added: "He is picked on within his community and his family are.
"This was a response to a great deal of provocation. He has been subjected to bullying and abuse by the prosecution witnesses. The gun was not loaded and was not fired.
"It would appear they were not put off by the presence of that gun. They continued to follow him and chased him down the street. His attempts to stop the bullying by standing up to them failed miserably. The complainant and his associates have been goading him since."
Miss Wallbanks said Alcock has not used heroin for two-and-a-half years and no longer smokes cannabis.
She added: "He behaved in an extremely stupid way. His biggest punishment is that he can't walk the streets."
Judge Granville Styler accepted Alcock was bullied by "these louts in Cheadle" and was "at his wits' end".
But he said people who produce firearms, real or imitation, in public places have to be sent to prison. He told Alcock: "If everybody who felt abused and bullied resorted to violence in the way you did there would be anarchy in this country.
"The public are very concerned with people who produce guns. A sentence of imprisonment must follow."
Alcock will serve up to half the sentence.
24 Comments
View all
by chubbs, cheshire
Friday, January 08 2010, 9:47PM
“i cannot understand why the cps/police have wasted so many resourses on getting who is after all the' real victim' jailed. But no effort by either seems to have been put in to 'jail' the 'louts'. Who's going to be their next 'jailable victim'?
and can anyone tell me how a jail sentence will help this guy. bearing in mind he only took out a very unrealistic imitation, as we see he had access to 'real ones', it is obvious to any lawyer i would have thought that 'no one at all was ''fooled'' by this 'toy'. When will honest people in this country be able to really protect themselves against those bent on causing chaos??”
by Geoff, Ex Cop
Friday, January 08 2010, 6:18PM
“At no point in the story does it say that anyone was scared, frightened or fear of their life, having had the toy gun pointed at them,
he produced it to stop his fear, It was a Feb night 4 30 so it would be dark, he wouldn`t know what could have happened with the taunts and rubbish of this gang, When your desperate you will try anything to stop it, We read the headline as it is now, We could quite easy be reading "MAN KILLED AFTER CONFRONTING YOBS" just like what happened in Warrington.
I think we need to get rid of this ASBO rubbish and the like, Which they treat as a medal.
Start punishing them hard and do it now ! !
This lot will be laughing all the way to the next innocent victim”
by Real Stokie, S-o-T
Friday, January 08 2010, 4:56PM
“At no point in the story does it mention that he'd been to the police about the harassment. If people want the police to intervene then they have to tell them, they are not psychic. Likewise if bystanders had seen the abuse and said and done nothing, shame on them - and to be honest this is becoming a major problem in the UK "not my business, not saying anything". If he'd been to the police and they'd done nothing then we might feel aggrieved, but if he's just snapped and waved the gun around... The way to tackle this anti-social behaviour is to group together, not close the curtains and hope it doesn't affect us and goes away. The judge was spot on with his comments about everyone taking the law into their own hands would lead to anarchy. But to be fair, regardless of how good or bad the police handle things, this is what people want anyway in 21st C angry, nasty Britain.”
by Smokey, The Bush
Friday, January 08 2010, 4:22PM
“Guns and gun crime are a part and parcel of life where I live, just tune into Brit Cops - Zero Tolerance. If the guy had a gun where I live he would have been dawn-raided and heavy handedly arrested to show that this is unacceptable behaviour. But then on the flip side - where I live the police would have taken action in the first place and apprehended the thugs before the situation escalated to this level. That said however, the local constabulary's failures do not in any way justify the man carrying a gun. I'm not trying to demonize the guy, in fact I can sympathize with him, but gun crime is gun crime and to keep guns off the streets the judge had no choice but to give him prison sentence (albeit rather lenient, but a prison sentence nonetheless).
I'm actually quite shocked that people seem to think guns are acceptable, I just hope this incident isn't the tip of an iceberg. Believe me, you don't want a society where people carry guns no matter what names the little antisocial runts are calling you when you go to the shops.”
by john mcglade, middleport
Friday, January 08 2010, 3:35PM
“Perhaps the give away to the louts that it was a toy gun was when the water came out, thats why they were not scared.If this man was trying to protect himself against these people because the police will not ,whats he supposed to do.Seems its ok for the perps to do what they want in this country and have their rights,but the victims rights dont matter.”