TWO young men seen sitting in a parked car near Penrith with an air rifle – allegedly pointing out of window – have been prosecuted.
Professional jockey George Wilson, 24, and his friend Joseph Boyle, 19, both admitted illegally possessing an air weapon in a public place without a reasonable excuse or lawful authority on August 6.
Carlisle’s Rickergate court heard that the men were sitting in a car that was parked adjacent to fields at Mile Lane, near Penrith, when another car pulled up beside them and the driver remonstrated with them.
Prosecutor Diane Jacksons said it was reported that the rifle was pointing out of the defendants' open car window towards fields containing livestock.
The motorist who had stopped next to the car witnessed this and told the defendants there was a right place to have such weapons and on a public road was not one of them, the court heard.
“The [defendant’s] car then drove off at speed towards the A66,” said Mrs Jackson. The court heard that the defendants denied that the air gun was at any point held or pointed outside of the car the men were in.
Mark Shepherd, for Wilson, of Hartford Bridge, Bedlington, Northumberland, said his client’s version of what happened is that the second driver involved appeared to have taken exception to the defendant’s overtaking his car.
There had been a “robust exchange,” said Mr Shepherd. The two defendants came to Cumbria for the weekend and planned to get some shooting in but there was no intention to do so illegally.
But that was not a legal excuse for having the air rifle in the car as it was, conceded Mr Shepherd. Regarding the claim that the air rifle was pointed at livestock in the field, Mr Shepherd said his client found his suggestion upsetting.
His air weapon was in the boot at all times, he said. A registered jockey, who trained 10 horses per week, Wilson would under no circumstances shoot at livestock.
Kate Hunter, for Boyle, of the Wynding, Bedlington, Northumberlandsaid, said the defendant had been shooting with a friend before the incident that led to the prosecution. District Judge Roger Lowe gave both men a one-year conditional discharge.
That means they will not be punished provided they stay out of trouble for that period.
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