Father and son jailed after aiming BB gun at neighbours and police in Wisbech
The pair made the threats after getting into an argument over the bins
Last updated 28th Sep 2022
A father and son have been jailed after pointing a BB gun at neighbours and police during an argument last year in Wisbech.
38 year old Christy Burke, of Victoria Road, and 69 year old Dermot Burke, of Perry Road, were arrested on December 14 after threatening neighbours during a dispute over the bins.
Christy pointed a BB pistol at several neighbours while Dermot, armed with a knife and wearing a mask, also made threats.
Police arrived and arrested Christy, but Dermot refused to comply with officers who were forced to use a stun grenade to detain him.
Christy admitted being in possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence at Cambridge Crown Court.
Dermot admitted to the same charge as well as being in possession of a knife in a public place.
Both have been sentenced to a year and 10 months behind bars.
Detective Constable Matt Pope, who investigated for Cambridgeshire Police, said: “This was a relatively low-level neighbour dispute which got completely out of hand due to the Burkes both being highly intoxicated.
“Christy armed himself with the weapon – which to an untrained eye, or from a distance, looks like a viable firearm – with the intention of intimidating the man, causing him to fear for his life.
“From the off-set their behaviour was aggressive and unjustified, causing the woman a lot of upset and fear, which then escalated, resulting in firearms officers being called to diffuse the situation and ultimately prevent anyone from being harmed.”