A frightened crime victim ran into traffic to escape an "alcoholic" man wielding a water pistol following a dispute over the sale of a packet of crisps, a court heard.
Drunken Stephen Fletcher sat next to the man on a bus, acted in a way that worried him then followed him shouting: “Oi. Oi.”
He caught up with the victim and swung a punch at his face, Teesside Crown Court was told yesterday.
The victim avoided the blow and pushed Fletcher away, then saw him take an AK47 Super Soaker from his backpack.
Prosecutor David Crook said Fletcher brandished the water pistol on August 15 and threatened to spray his victim with water.
The victim was so concerned he ran into traffic to get away and sought refuge in a shop.
Fletcher, 52, followed and lingered outside the shop, and was aggressive to concerned teenagers.
He told a 14-year-old boy “I’ll spray you too” before police arrived and arrested him as well as confiscating the water pistol.
He and the victim had contact before “due to a transaction about a packet of crisps which the victim was going to buy”, said Mr Crook.
Fletcher, of Falston Close, Billingham, admitted possession of an offensive weapon on High Grange Avenue, Billingham and threatening behaviour.
He was in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed in March for possessing an inflatable children's hammer, where he threatened to hit another man with it during an argument in Stockton.
He had a 32-year criminal record but had only been jailed once in 1986, for two months, said his barrister Paul Wishlade.
Mr Wishlade said: “He is unfortunately an alcoholic. It’s a little difficult really to know where to start.
“He had been drinking that day because that is a daily occurrence.
“I’ve seen him many, many times in a state where he has no idea what he’s doing, what day it is or anything.
“He is to be pitied rather than anything else. He doesn’t appear to be capable of giving up alcohol. His liver is on its last legs.”
The judge, Recorder Michael Camp, said prison would at least give Fletcher some time without alcohol.
He said a report showed Fletcher didn’t understand the serious, frightening and inconvenient nature of his behaviour.
Fletcher was jailed for eight months for the latest offences, plus 26 weeks for breaching the suspended sentence.
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