A MAN who brandished an imitation gun at youths after being plagued by trouble-makers walked free from court after a judge said he had suffered intolerable provocation.

Bryan Jones, 54, of Arran Avenue, Shadsworth, Blackburn, admitted possessing an imitation firearm a short barrelled silver handgun with intent to cause fear of violence on April 14 last year.

But he told the court youngsters had subjected him to a "campaign of harassment and violence."

And as Judge Anthony Russell QC told Jones he was too old to be in the crown court dock and released him, he replied: "Thank-you very much, you're a good geezer."

The case echoes that of Manchester teacher Linda Walker, 48, who was jailed in March 2005, but freed on appeal in May, for firing an air pistol near a group of youths after they terrorised her family.

But today the mum of one of the teenagers Jones threatened said they had not been causing trouble and were left scared and shaken by the incident.

Ciaran Rankin, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court that Jones had asked the teenagers, who were playing outside his home, to move and when they refused he produced the imitation gun.

He told police, who recovered the weapon and a collection of replicas from his home, about the abuse he had had from the children and initially denied the confrontation with the gun.

The court also heard he had been drinking on the night of the offence and had had his "regular skinful."

Wayne Goldstein, defending, said Jones, who had moved back to his home town of Blackburn from the south after getting divorced, had been subjected to a "campaign of harassment and violence" by local youths and windows at his home had been broken.

Mr Goldstein told the court it could not be said these were the same children who had been causing a nuisance or had vandalised his property and that Jones had acted in a wholly unacceptable way.

He said that since the offence, Jones had continued to suffer harassment with eggs and potatoes thrown at windows.

Following a previous court appearance he got home to find a dead rat on his doorstep. Jones had decided to leave Blackburn and his house was up for sale.

He also acknowledged he had a problem with alcohol and wished to address it.

Judge Anthony Russell QC said the offence was serious but he accepted Jones had been provoked over a significant period and that he was at the end of his tether.

He said: "In my judgement this was an exceptional case. The position you were put in was intolerable and as a result your resolve broke."

Jones was sentenced to 45 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years.

He will be subject to supervision by the probation service for two years.

Speaking after the hearing Pauline Volkert, whose 15-year-old daughter Hayley had been among those threatened by Jones, said: "They were really cut up and upset about it they were in a state of shock.

"They could have been making a noise, but they are grand kids."