Boy, 10, pointed fake pistol at 'terrified' woman

A 10-year-old boy pointed a fake pistol at a woman in the street, leaving her "terrified".

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, frightened the woman on a Derby street by pointing the imitation gun at her and firing a pellet into a car.

He was due before Derby Youth Court for trial on Friday but failed to appear.

Magistrates found him guilty of a firearms offence in his absence and a warrant for the arrest of the boy, who is now 11, has been issued.

The woman, whose daughter lived on the street, described feeling "out of control" and "quite terrified" when the youngster emerged from his home brandishing a fake gun on August 17 last year and pointed it at her.

She told the court: "Having never ever been in that position before, I was quite terrified.

"(I) felt very strange in the stomach. I felt out of control in the situation."

She described the youngster as being "blase" after he fired plastic pellets from the Chinese-made 6mm gun.

She told the court: "It was a blue plastic little pistol-shaped gun and he was waving it around willy-nilly."

She added the boy told her "You can't touch me" and "You can't do this" and said she felt "violated" by the ordeal.

The woman had been talking to a male resident on the street about the problems with the boy living in the road when the incident occurred at 12.45pm.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court he heard a "ping" when the boy shot at a parked car.

He added: "I felt worried and afraid because you did not know with him.

"Sometimes you could talk to him if you were one to one, he was a nice little lad and you could talk sensibly but then he would change and you didn't know what he was going to do next."

The police were called and the boy was taken away by police "kicking, screaming abuse and crying", the court heard.

The boy was also convicted of a public order offence and lead magistrate Tim Court said he will be sentenced at a later date.