Ex-soldier took air rifle to stop noisy DIY

May 29 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

POLICE and firearms officers raced to a block of flats in the Letham district of Perth after a former TA soldier confronted a neighbour with a powerful air rifle after months of noisy DIY work had disrupted his sleep.

Perth Sheriff Court was told this week that 47-year-old Russell Steele had again been disturbed by power tools being used one afternoon last August.

But Polish resident Janus Janicki, who didn’t speak much English, insisted that the work would continue.

Steele then calmly walked back to his flat, collected the weapon, which had telescopic sights, and returned to the complainer’s house.

He simply said: “Stop working,” according to depute fiscal Nicola Gillespie.

“He was holding the air rifle at his side at the time,” she added.

“The complainer saw the air rifle and realised he didn’t have it initially.

“He was concerned by what he saw and said: ‘OK, then’ and closed the door.”

After telephoning his wife, he contacted the police and a “number” of officers attended, including the force’s firearms unit.

When quizzed by police, Steele told them that he had been in the TA and was experienced in firearms.

The £1,000 weapon, which he used to shoot vermin on a friend’s land, was recovered from a nearby pub in Rannoch Road.

Steele pled guilty to being in possession of the weapon in the close at 9 Campsie Road on August 25 last year, with intent to cause Mr Janicki to believe that unlawful violence would be used against him.

Solicitor David Holmes said his client had been unwell that day and had asked his neighbour to stop the drilling but he had refused.

There had been a build up in tension and it had come to a head that particular day. He felt “enough was enough.”

Steele and his wife had now decided to move to Strathtay Road after living in Campsie Road for 20 years.

Mr Holmes pointed out the rifle wasn’t loaded and wasn’t capable of being fired because the air reservoir was empty.

Steele had spent a total of 18 years in the TA and had a son serving in Afghanistan.

After going off the bench to consider his sentence, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said he was prepared to impose 300 hours of community service as an alternative to prison.

He took into account the type and condition of the firearm and the fact Steele had held it at his side and hadn’t pointed it at his neighbour.

The air rifle, ammunition and other associated equipment was ordered to be forfeited.