An eccentric busker who waved a replica hand gun over his head while claiming he was James Bond has been spared a jail term.
A concerned mother and daughter spied wannabe 007 Stephen Chipperfield – known by his nickname Left Hand Luke – with the model weapon on August 2 on Sycamore Drive, Arbroath.
He told the pair: “Now you can say that you met the real James Bond.”
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that the women were walking along the street at around 1pm when they saw Chipperfield, 60, and recognised him as a local busker.
Prosecutor Christine Allan said previously: “As they approached the accused, they observed him to be around 10 to 15ft away with a black, metal looking item in his left hand.
“This resembled a hand gun or a similar item.
“The accused then held it aloft, shook it from side to side, not aiming it at them and saying ‘I am licensed to carry this. I am MI6’.
“He added ‘now you can say that you met the real James Bond. We don’t always wear tuxedos’.”
The women were concerned and contacted the police who later attended at Chipperfield’s home on Bloomfield Road.
They observed the firearm to be small and black and the accused showed the item to police. Chipperfield was arrested and in response to being cautioned and charged, said: “It won’t happen again, I meant no harm.”
Chipperfield previously pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm, namely a model gun, without lawful authority before brandishing it in the presence of Beth and Carole Forbes and making comments about why he had the firearm.
The case had been deferred to Forfar Sheriff Court but after failing to appear for sentencing, Chipperfield ended up back in the cells of Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday.
Grant Bruce, defending, told Sheriff Keith O’Mahony that Chipperfield had encountered a number of personal difficulties in recent months.
As an alternative to custody, Sheriff O’Mahony placed Chipperfield on supervision for 12 months along with a 12-week restriction of liberty order. This will keep him indoors between 7pm and 7am.
The sheriff said: “I recognise that there are issues in your background. Nevertheless, this must have been an alarming event for the people involved.”
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