Homeowner jailed after firing shots in warning to anglers
A MAN who fired both barrels of a shotgun over the heads of two anglers because he feared they might be troublemakers has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Andre John Hulse was said to be at his wits' end because of burglars and vandals plaguing his idyllic canalside cottage next to the River Don and South Yorkshire Navigation at Mexborough.
The fishermen were not injured by the blast but pellets landed near them and they were terrified enough to flee the scene and report the incident to police.
Hulse, aged 52, who has been suffering from depression because of constant vandalism to the Low Lock Cottage where he lived, was arrested the next day and said he hoped shooting at them would keep them away.
He pleaded guilty at Doncaster Crown Court to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and the judge said it would be a dereliction of his duty to protect the public if he did not send him to prison.
Prosecutor Nicholas Neale said the two young men were respectable types
who had gone fishing on a summer evening and lit a small fire to keep gnats away.
Hulse appeared, shouted abuse at them and then went back into his house for a shotgun which he fired twice above their heads.
Police recovered three legally-held shotguns and a starting pistol from the cottage and the judge ordered the cancellation of his firearms certificate.
Michael Cane-Soothill, defending, said Hulse was unable to work because of an accident and had taken up gundog training as a hobby, which was why he possessed the guns.
He had bought Low Lock Cottage with help from his mother but after it was flooded in summer 2007 he lost most of what he owned and burglars stripped lead off the roof.
Mr Cane-Soothill added: "The arrival of these young men in a Land Rover rang alarm bells. This was the culmination of two years of appalling luck and stress.
"He knows it is contrary to all the laws of gun safety but it was a momentary aberration for him - a moment of madness."
The court heard Hulse, now living in Pastures Road, Mexborough, had been forced to sell the cottage at a 20,000 loss.
Judge Patrick Robertshaw said the use of weapons in response to a grievance had reached epidemic proportions and sentences had to act as a deterrent.
He added: "Whatever your problems in the past, it was a shotgun deliberately discharged by you twice in the general direction of two law-abiding individuals."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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