Toy gun sparked major police alert

Toy gun sparked major police alert

12 March 2014

A SPECIALIST police armed response unit rushed from Belfast to Downpatrick after a man threatened to turn a gun on himself, a local court has heard.

Police closed off Saul Street while police negotiated with Michael McKinney as the armed response officers stood by.

McKinney eventually handed the gun over to police who discovered it was a toy gun which he had found in the street.

McKinney was warned about the serious disruption caused by his actions, which began when he telephoned police on April 14 last year to say he had found a gun outside his Saul Street home and felt like pulling the trigger on himself.

He said he had taken the gun into his flat, prompting police to close off the Saul Street area and task the specialist armed response unit to the flat.

Police arrived on foot and saw McKinney through a window holding the firearm at shoulder height.

The court heard that they shouted a warning of “armed police, the gun” before trying to persuade him to hand over the weapon.

He eventually handed it around the door of his flat with the barrel facing away from officers. McKinney struggled when he was eventually restrained by officers in the hallway.

On Monday Downpatrick Court was told the weapon McKinney had found on the footpath outside his home was a “cap firing toy gun”.

His defence barrister, Mr. Paul McAlinden, said the defendant had brought the incident on himself by picking up the apparent weapon in the first place and telephoning police to let them know he had taken it inside.

District Judge Greg McCourt said he did not understand why McKinney had not told police where the weapon was rather than causing the unnecessary chain of events that unfolded.

He said police had been particularly concerned because of health problems suffered by the defendant.

“They became alarmed and got armed response officers to the area,” he said.

Ordering a pre-sentence report, Mr. McCourt said the case was “a serious matter” and was further aggravated by the fact that McKinney resisted police and spat when apprehended. Forty nine year-old McKinney faces charges of resisting police, disorderly behaviour and criminal damage.

“This is serious because of the amount of trouble you caused the police,” he said.

“You have no record but this is serious enough to require a community service order, which would be probation and community service combined.”