A man has been jailed after he pointed an imitation handgun at man outside a nightclub.
Bogdan Iftode, aged 27, pointed the pistol-style airgun at the head of another customer after he was challenged about his drunken and rowdy behaviour.
He then walked back inside Mansfield’s After Dark nightclub, where he was held by door staff and arrested soon afterwards by police.
The weapon, a gas-powered pellet gun, was recovered from Iftode at the scene after the incident, which took place at around 11pm on Sunday, 27 June this year.
It was not loaded with pellets or the gas needed to fire them.
During his police interview Iftode declined to answer any of the questions put to him but later pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday he was jailed for one year. He was also ordered to forfeit the gun and pay a victim surcharge of £156.
Detective Constable Colin Jones, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a shocking incident in which a man was threatened with what looked like a lethal weapon.
“Understandably this caused considerable alarm to witnesses and to the victim, who acted with admirable calm and bravery in the circumstances.
“Iftode had just been confronted by his victim for drunkenly smashing a bottle and immediately responded with his violent threats.
“In doing so Iftode acted with incredible recklessness and stupidity, setting in motion a train of events that could have ended very differently for him had it not been for the very swift and professional intervention of door staff at the venue.
“Firearms incidents are always treated with the utmost seriousness and will always attract the attention of armed police officers, who in most cases will assume that they are dealing with a live firearm and respond accordingly.
“I hope Iftode learns a valuable lesson from this experience and resolves never to take any kind of imitation weapon out in public.”
