Paranoid cocaine addict pulled gun on motorist at Wakefield shop parade
A cocaine-fuelled thug pulled out a gun and pointed it at a motorist after accusing the innocent man of writing down his registration number.
Paranoid Luke Strickland put the pistol through the window of his own car at the terrified man, then got out and walked towards him with the weapon pointed towards him.
The incident took place outside the Londis on Hilltop, Knottingley, on the evening of February 4.
Strickland appeared at Leeds Crown Court this week over a video link from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand.
He sobbed when the judge opted to give him a suspended sentence.
Prosecutor Leila Taleb said the man had been parked up outside the shop at around 7.45pm, and was looking through his phone when Strickland pulled up next to him in a white Vauxhall.
The victim looked up to see Strickland staring at him and said: “Why are you taking my registration plate?”
The 25-year-old then pulled the gun from inside his jacket and pointed it through the window and said to the man: “Getting lippy now?”
The victim then reversed and Strickland got out and walked in front of the man’s car pointing the gun.
He then put it away and went into the Londis shop. The man got Strickland’s reg plate and called the police.
Strickland then left the shop and ran at the man’s car as he drove off, trying the door handle before kicking the passenger-side door.
He was arrested the next day and the gun was found. It was a BB air pistol and pellets were found in the car also. He gave a no-comment interview to officers.
Strickland, of Willow Park, Pontefract admitted possession of an imitation firearm with an intent to cause fear of violence.
He also admitted making threats to cause criminal damage after an incident in in January when he told a woman he would smash up her car.
He has four previous convictions for seven offences, including harassment and criminal damage.
Mitigating, Kara Frith said: “He does not seek to justify or minimise what he did.
“There was nothing said or done that deserved that reaction. He did not know the victim at all.
“These are unpleasant offences born out of paranoia from his escalating drug use.
“He did not recognise how bad it had become. He is very sorry for what he did.”
She said he had special educational needs as a youngster, had fallen in with the “wrong crowd” and became “more and more dependant” on cocaine.
Judge Simon Batiste told Strickland: “He was someone you did not even know. Out of paranoia you thought he was trying to take your registration plate.
“It must have been a truly terrifying incident. There’s no excuse for your behaviour.
“It appears you were taking a significant amount of cocaine.”
With Strickland held on remand for four months, Judge Batiste said he would suspend the inevitable prison sentence, with a crying Strickland thanking him.
He gave him 16 months’ jail, suspended for two years.
He gave him a nine-month drug-rehabilitation requirement to complete, along with 25 rehabilitation days with probation and 100 hours of unpaid work.