Grumpy pensioner threatens schoolboys with GUN after football hits his fence

[Photo: File]

A pensioner pointed a GUN at two schoolboys after their football hit his garden fence, a court has heard.

The boys, aged 10 and 12, were playing a game of ‘kerby’ when 67-year-old Lionel Green turned on them.

A court heard how he threatened the two boys with a ‘lethal’ .22 Webley air pistol - fitted with a silencer.

Green, who had been drinking in his front garden, pointed the weapon at each of them in turn as he ordered them to stop the game.

The younger of the two boys told police he believed he was going to be shot by his gun-toting neighbour.

Police later recovered two airguns from his home, the Manchester Evening News reported.

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The pistol pointed at the young boys was test-fired by police and was capable of causing a ‘potentially lethal injury’, Gary Woodhall, prosecuting, told the court.

Following his arrest Green complained that ‘shouting, screaming, rampant’ youngsters ‘running wild’ on his estate had been winding him up, but he insisted he had legally bought the weapons to deal with slugs in his garden.

“He may well have had trouble on the estate, whether it was these children or others we don’t know, but nothing justifies what followed”, Mr Woodhall added.

Green, 67, was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, plus supervision and a requirement to attend an alcohol treatment course after admitting possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

After hearing he was recovering from facial and bowel cancer, and had a long-term drink problem, the judge concluded that a community punishment overseen by the Probation Service, rather than jail, would better deal with his problems.

Rebecca Tanner, defending, said Green lived an “isolated and lonely lifestyle”.

Mottershead Road in Wythenshawe Kerby: The boys had been playing in Mottershead Road in Wythenshawe

 “He tells me he bought (the weapons) legitimately and it wasn’t until police analyzed the items he found out they were capable of causing harm”, she added.

Miss Tanner said there was ‘nothing to suggest’ the weapons were bought with a more sinister purpose than an ‘unusual’ way of dealing with slugs.

“Since that time he’s continued to remain at his address without further incident - demonstrating this was out of character”, she added.

The mother of the younger boy Natalie Berry, 32, said her son Haiden, 11, was left traumatised by the ordeal after Green terrified her son and another pal who were playing in the street.

She said: “It’s disgusting really - a grown man pulling a gun out on two kids.

“I was at home at the time and I sent my daughter out to get him for his tea. Then the police arrived. When I got round there it had all kicked off. The police were getting the gun out of the house.

“Haiden was a bit shaken up. He was eleven at the time. He has never really spoken about it.

“They were playing kerby and a ball had hit his fence. This guy had been drinking in the garden all day.

“He’s gone into the house to get the gun out and told them ‘don’t let the ball hit the ****ing gate’.”

The mum added how the schoolboy had been ‘nervous’ about the prospect of giving evidence during the trial.

But he was spared the ordeal after Green changed his plea at the last minute.

Natalie added: “I don’t think he really understood what it all entailed until he got to court and they showed him the video-link room where he would be giving his.

“I’m glad he changed his plea but I can’t believe he’s got off like that.”

The court heard how a test blast from the pistol-shaped air weapon, one of two imitation firearms recovered at the pensioner’s home, would have been powerful enough to cause serious, potentially-lethal, injuries.

Green had argued that he had been running ‘wild on the estate’.

Mum Natalie denied that her son was a troublemaker, adding: “If it had been the other way round and my son had pulled a gun on him I am sure it would have meant jail. My son had never seen a gun in his life.”

The incident last year took place on a quiet family street lined with maisonette-style houses.

But other neighbours, who did not want to be named, spoke up to express some sympathy with long-standing resident Green, who is recovering from facial and bowel cancers, pointing out that he had faced a stressful battle with poor health.