A man shot his neighbour with an air rifle in front of his toddler daughter then brandished a crossbow during a dispute over gardening noise in the early days of lockdown, a court heard.
Graham Barker, 55, was jailed for three and a half years last week at Hove Crown Court over the attack on his neighbour Mark Smith shortly before 7pm on April 15 last year.
The row started after Mr Smith and his fiancee Kirsty Duparc were using an electric watering system on the balcony at their flat in Ingram Crescent West, Hove.
Barker objected, so the couple switched to a conventional watering can – but Miss Duparc shouted at him to stop being a bully.
Barker then went back inside his flat, and stepped onto his balcony with an air rifle, which he used to shoot Mr Smith in the shoulder – in front of his two-year-old daughter Alia.
Prosecuting, Jennifer Grey said: “He caused injury to Mr Smith, and not surprisingly fear to the entire family, including his small daughter who was crying.
“The defendant then went back into his flat and came out with a crossbow which he then aimed at Mr Smith at which point Miss Duparc was screaming for Mr Smith and her daughter to come inside the flat.
“Armed police were called and when they arrested this defendant, stated he smelled strongly of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet.”
Officers seized the .22 calibre air rifle, which was still loaded with pellets, one large crossbow, two small crossbows and a quantity of arrows.
Neither Mr Smith nor Miss Duparc gave a victim impact statement ahead of the sentencing, as they said they were afraid of how Barker would react.
However, Mr Smith did give a statement to police shortly after the attack, which was read out in court.
He said: “This is a place a place we have made our home and I should feel safe. However, my fiancee has been extremely upset and now fears for our safety.
“I’m scared we may bump into this man again in the future as he lives opposite our flat. Kirsty says she does not feel safe.
“He’s unstable, unpredictable and violent.
“My family being put at risk is my worst nightmare. We should feel safe in our own home. However, right now we don’t.”
Defending, Sarah Thorne said that Barker had turned his life around after a long period of street homelessness and had been a model citizen for the last 15 years, mentoring a junior colleague and helping elderly neighbours with their shopping during lockdown.
She said he had been badly affected by the first lockdown, and had been particularly frustrated at seeing people coming and going from the block of flats and breaking the rules.
She pleaded with the judge not to jail Barker, saying that he would come out of prison onto the streets, and back at square one.
She said: “The net result would be to make this man more dangerous than before, to effectively destroy everything he’s set up over the last 15 to 16 years.
“It’s a make or break situation for this man today and it seems to me that you could discharge your public duty by taking a risk.
“I appreciate it’s a risk, but he would be closely monitored by probation, he has his friends and he wishes to be moved away from these flats very soon.
“If there’s any suggestion that he’s approaching these people or there’s drink-related antisocial behaviour then he will be in breach and he’ll be brought before the court and his feet won’t touch the ground.”
However in sentencing, Judge David Rennie said that while Ms Thorne’s arguments had been “cogent and persuasive”, the offence was too serious for anything but an immediate prison sentence.
He said: “Neighbours can and do sometimes get on each others’ nerves, especially with the added lockdown pressures. There’s nothing remotely unusual about that experience. It’s common.
“What’s far from common is your extreme and dangerous reaction to the situation you believed you faced that day.
“You chose to go and get a .22 calibre rifle, you chose to aim it at somebody, you chose to discharge it and we know that punctured their skin.
“You then went to go and get a crossbow, a weapon that most people would realise has the potential to be lethal.”
Barker, who pleaded guilty on June 17, was given three and a half years for possessing the air rifle and 12 months to run concurrently for assaulting Mr Smith.
A restraining order preventing him from contacting Mr Smith and Miss Duparc for seven years was also imposed.
