A man who pulled a gun from his trousers claims he found it in a skip and decided to keep it.
Armed police were called to the scene in Huyton when Michal Koper was seen producing the “flintlock type musket” from his waistband. The gun, which is believed to be about 200 years old, was dropped to the ground when he was handcuffed by officers.
The 39-year-old told Liverpool Crown Court he found the weapon in a skip and had kept it as “a curiosity”. The jury chose to accept this explanation and, on Wednesday, gave him the benefit of the doubt.
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Judge Andrew Menary, QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, said that courts are sometimes sceptical about such claims. He added: “In your case given the nature of the item and your antecedents it may well be that you found this item.
“It was down the waistband of your trousers but members of the public saw you take it out and from a distance this must have appeared to them to be a firearm. Not surprisingly that would have caused them very significant alarm.
“Consequences of your actions are that armed police officers were summoned to the scene. They found you still in possession of the item which, when you were confronted, fell to the floor."
Judge Menary explained that the 'muzzle-loading pistol' was not capable of being fired but could have been easily rectified. He added that he was satisfied the weapon posed no actual threat to anyone but “it was nonetheless a very frightening item.”
He told Koper, who was assisted in the dock by an interpreter, that his situation was aggravated by the fact that he was drunk at the time and he said that the offence crossed the custody threshold. But he said, “It is not necessary in the peculiar circumstances of this case for there to be an immediate sentence of imprisonment.”
He sentenced Koper to six months imprisonment suspended for 12 months. He said he would benefit from some support from probation and ordered him to carry out five days rehabilitation activities and 150 hours unpaid work.
Koper, of Tawd Street, Kirkdale, pleaded guilty to possessing an altered firearm without a firearms certificate. Chris Taylor, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that the incident happened at 5.50 pm on June 19 last year in Lorenzo Drive, Huyton.
Koper was seen drunk in possession of a white plastic bag and witnesses notified police that they had seen him take a firearm from the waistband of his trousers, armed police were called to the scene and Mr Taylor played footage of them ordering Koper to drop the bag, put his hands on his head and then walk towards them.
Mr Taylor said that although he was drunk Koper was compliant and was handcuffed and arrested. When the weapon was forensically examined it was found to be a muzzle-loading pistol which appeared to have been privately manufactured between 1820 and 1860.
It was not capable of firing due to the hammer lacking string tension. It was a viable weapon but not capable of being fired that day.
Paul Lewis, defending, said that Koper, who has no previous convictions, says he found the gun in a skip. He added: “The Crown do not dispute it. It might be true and he never denied having the item.
“It wasn’t working. He genuinely believed it was a curiosity and like a trinket for him.”
Mr Lewis added that while Koper enjoys a drink he did not have a drink problem.
