A DRUNKEN man fired several warning shots with an imitation gun – but had returned to the wrong Keighley street.

David Hull, 49, has been jailed for 34 months over the incident which saw him drive off after a confrontation and return with the imitation weapon with the "intention to cause fear".

He was seen acting strangely in his mother's car on Catherine Street in the town on October 28 last year at around 2pm.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the father-of-four was making gun gestures with his hands at two women walking past and shouted abuse at them.

At this point the husband of one of the women took objection and confronted Hull asking him to leave. He drove off, threatening to return.

Hull, of Hemsby Grove, Keighley, did return about 20 minutes later, but drove to the wrong street, ending up on nearby Rutland Street, where he fired several shots into the air from a blank firing pistol.

The court was told a resident heard several loud bangs and looked out to see a small white car being driven erratically down the road.

After pulling over, Hull pointed the gun through the car window and fired around six times into the air.

Officers found blank casings at the scene and traced the car back to Hull's mother, whose address he also lived at. They uncovered the weapon along with a box containing 34 blank rounds.

Hull pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm, a Retay Nano 8mm blank firing pistol, with intent to cause someone to believe that unlawful violence would be used, as well as taking the car without consent.

He also admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance.

Hull was said to have been heavily under the influence of drink or drugs, but had no intention of causing injury to anyone, in what was described as an "unsophisticated offence".

It also emerged that he had a number of previous convictions, including six instances of driving while disqualified, and was most recently disqualified for drink driving and dangerous driving in 2018.

Judge Ahmed Nadim, in sentencing Hull to 34 months, said he had been driving at the time in "defiance of a disqualification".

"You have through your counsel admitted that you were heavily intoxicated and you were behaving in a manner which attracted attention.

"You appeared to be dancing in the vehicle and making gun gestures with your hands.

"The residents of the area noticed you and you reacted to this by behaving in a rude fashion. A relative took objection and told you to leave the area and your reaction was that you will leave but returned shortly.

"Twenty minutes later you were in Rutland Street and a resident of the area heard four or five loud bangs.

"The witness was able to connect you with the car that was being driven erratically.

"You were in that car and held a small handgun in the air and you discharged the gun around six times, that led to the matter being reported to the police."

He added: "Alcohol and its abuse underpins your offending behaviour and you need to sort that out. When you do put your mind to it, you are able to keep out of trouble."

Hull was banned from driving for 29 months and received 6 penalty points on his licence.