A POLISH man was seen in a Blackburn park pointing an imitation firearm at two girls.

Blackburn magistrates heard the girls were not aware of what was going on, and the repeating air pistol was not loaded.

But District Judge Peter Ward said he had still considered an immediate prison sentence because the offence was so serious.

He said: “Gun crime has become a big problem and if people are holding guns in public places anyone who sees them doesn’t know if they are real or not.

“In this case I accept you did not know you were committing an offence and no-one could have come to any harm.”

Bartosz Chmielewski, 22, of Burnley Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to possessing a G10 repeater air pistol in Queens Park on July 13.

He was ordered to do 180 hours unpaid work and pay £50 costs.

Basharat Ditta, defending, said Chmielewski worked at a recycling centre and had found the ball bearing firing gun in some rubbish.

“He didn’t realise he wasn’t allowed to have it in a public place, but that is not a defence,” said Mr Ditta.

“He accepts that people who saw this item would not have known it was not a real gun.

“He got quite a fright when the armed response unit swooped and pointed real guns at him.”