Young Southam man who ‘dressed like an armed robber’ with what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun was nearly targeted by armed police

A young Southam man who was seen ‘dressed like an armed robber’ with what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun under his coat could have ended up being targeted by armed police.

And a judge said he hoped it had been pressed on Isaac James ‘how dangerous it might have been for him’ if an armed unit had been called to the scene.

James (21), of Southam, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

He was given a three-year community order, with a rehabilitation activity for 30 days and a requirement that he undergoes mental health treatment.

Prosecutor Richard Witcombe said that on March 2 the police were alerted by James’s behaviour in Stratford, and found him in the area of Baker Avenue.

He was wearing a big black coat, zipped up and with the hood up, a black face mask (before the wearing of masks became commonplace) and black gloves, and ‘his appearance was described as intimidating.’

The officers searched him and pulled out a long item wrapped in a plastic bag from under his coat.

It consisted of two metal poles taped together with a plastic handle, and Judge Peter Cooke observed: “What it looks like is a sawn-off shotgun.”

And Mr Witcombe said that when he was questioned, James ‘accepted the items had been with him to threaten and to give the impression that it was a firearm.’

The case had been adjourned a number of times since James first appeared at the court in April, and Nick Devine, defending, observed: “It has taken a long time to get to today.”

He pointed out that James, who Judge Cooke had said at a previous hearing has ‘quite severe Asperger’s not helped by his consumption of cannabis,’ has mental health difficulties, for which he was now receiving medication.

“He had no previous convictions, but there had been difficulties between him and his mother. Clearly at the time he was acting under a number of paranoid delusions,” Mr Devine added.

Judge Cooke remarked: “I trust it has been pressed on him in no uncertain terms that to go around dressed like an armed robber, with every appearance of having a sawn-off shotgun, just how dangerous it might have been for him.

“It is just the sort of scenario which leads to an armed police unit being called out, and not knowing what it was going to face.”

But the judge said he intended to deal with James in the way suggested in both the pre-sentence and psychiatric reports.

He told James: “The offence is a very serious one, and it’s a very stupid and dangerous way to have conducted yourself.

“I want to ensure that you are not going to behave in a silly way like this again in the future. This [order] is as much about helping you as anything else.”