A 64-YEAR-OLD drunken man pulled out a hand gun and threatened to shoot a teenager when he asked him for the time.

Burnley Crown Court heard how the youth dashed to the nearby police station in Nelson and when officers found and searched James Austin Healey they found a starting pistol in his bag.

Healey was sent to prison for six months and one day, suspended for two years, with a 12 month suspended sentence supervision order.

Judge Raymond Bennett said it was improbable that the complainant would have wanted to know the time because of the defendant's drunken condition and demeanour and added he believed the defendant would be a person who would get picked on.

He said Healey feared the person was "up to no good," and produced the pistol. It could not be used to injure anybody, but cause somebody to feel very frightened. Judge Bennett added Healey was " a bit prone to violence, "had a long list of convictions and was not entitled to produce a gun.

Healey, of Albert Street, Nelson, who had been in custody for more than a week, admitted affray.

Tim Brennand, prosecuting, said the teenager was walking along Manchester Road, Nelson, and asked the defendant the time.

Healey, who appeared heavily intoxicated to the youth, produced the hand gun from his bag, pointed it at the victim's chest and said: "If you don't go away, I will shoot you."

Police arrived, Healey was argumentative, and after they found the pistol, officers took him to the police station. During the course of interview, he could remember very little and it was clear drink had played a part.

Nick Kennedy, defending, said Healey had always maintained there had been an incident when three lads aged between about 12 and 14 had taken the mickey out of him and thrown stones at him.