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A man has avoided jail after threatening a professional drone pilot with a gun outside his house in the Cotswolds while accusing him of filming his wife sunbathing in their garden.
In August last year, Michael Edwards, 72, of Shepherd’s Way, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, was arrested after video – see below – showed the pensioner confronting the drone user, estate agency videographer Daine Gooden, in the street outside his home after firing at the quadcopter.
Edwards claimed he had been trying to shoot the drone using the weapon – telling the pilot: “You bring it over my house and I will fire at it…
“If you do it again, I will fire at it again. I took three shots at it and I missed.”
At Cirencester Courthouse Edwards, 72, of Shepherds Way, Cirencester, pleaded not guilty to a charge of possessing an imitation firearm – a Huntington Beach G10 repeater air pistol – with intent to cause Gooden to believe that unlawful violence would be used against him.
But Edwards did plead guilty to a less serious charge of having a firearm in a public place, Shepherds Way, Cirencester, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, on 22 August 2022.
The defendant avoided jail when sentenced, but he was given a curfew and ordered to wear a tag and pay compensation to Gooden.
Chris Smyth, prosecuting, said Gooden’s activity was “perfectly lawful” and confirmed he was registered with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as required.
He said the defendant was “erratic with his arms and the gun”, adding he was “only a foot away from the victim being aggressive, irate and shouting and swearing about the drone”.
Fearing for his safety and of those around him, Gooden wrestled with the gunman to disarm him and kicked the weapon away. Edwards collected the gun and ran back into his house.
Police were called to the scene and armed officers arrested the defendant.
Steve Young, defending, told the court Edwards “has never been involved in any criminal proceedings” in the past and was of good character.
He said his client bought the air pistol 20 years ago at a car boot sale and uses it to fire warning shots at foxes when they come into his garden.
Young added Edwards is “genuinely remorseful and does apologise” for his behaviour, accepting it was “entirely unacceptable”.
“He accepts it would have caused the victim real distress.
“He’s never been in this situation before, it’s caused a great deal of stress to himself and his family. He has been law-abiding all his life.”
Recorder Richard Mawhinney imposed a 12-month community order with one requirement: for the defendant to complete a four-month curfew between 7pm and 7am daily, which will be monitored by a GPS tag.
“The tag will be a reminder to you of what you’ve done, and to anyone else who sees the tag a reminder of what you’ve done”, he said.
He was ordered to pay £3,000 compensation to Gooden, including £2,000 for the damaged drone and loss of earnings and £1,000 for the distress caused.
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