A MAN chased a group of people up an Oxfordshire road wielding a fake handgun before firing two shots in a bid ‘to scare them’ a court heard.

Alan Bumpass of Sunny Side, Benson, denies one count of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear or violence.

Oxford Crown Court heard at the start of his trial yesterday how the 24-year old was spotted by eye-witnesses at The Street, Wallingford, wielding what appeared to be a handgun.

Prosecutor Stephen Earnshaw told the jury of six men and six women that Bumpass had taken it upon himself on the evening of November 15 last year to chase the group in a bid to ‘scare them’.

He said that it had following reports of burglaries in the area he was living at the time.

Mr Earnshaw told the court: “The man removed what looked like a gun in his waist band and then he fired towards the direction of the three men who were running away.

“He was on the phone for a short period before a small white car pulled up driven by a white woman and a man.”

He said that Bumpass then got in the car before fleeing the scene and was later arrested by police.

At interview, the court heard, he initially denied there ever being a firearm before later conceding that he had in his possession what he described as a ‘BB gun’ and said that ‘people were trying to break into the caravan’ where he lived.

Mr Earnshaw added that he also told police he had ‘thrown a gun into the Thames’ following the incident.

Jurors went on to watch a recorded police interview with one eye-witness – an 11-year old boy, who told officers that he saw Bumpass run up the road in the direction of Wallingford chasing after the group at about 9pm on the night of the incident.

The boy told officers that he saw Bumpass – who is described as being dressed only in a pair of shorts at the time – point what appeared to be a handgun towards three men before firing two shots in their direction.

He said: “He got something out of his shorts and he pulled a pistol, and it was black. And then two shots go off like two big bangs.”

He added: “I was like ‘oh my god’, did I actually see this? It felt a weird, a bit strange because I had never seen anything like that happen.

“I felt a bit funny that there is people out there that do that.”

From the witness box yesterday the boy also answered questions from barrister Richard Davies, defending on behalf of his client Bumpass.

He put to the child that it was a torch that he was carrying and not an imitation firearm, a suggestion the boy denied.

Bumpass denies the charge and the trial – expected to last four days, continues.