A stocky, bald man in a red T-shirt got out of a van carrying an air rifle, which he pointed at a group of people, saying 'I'm going to shoot', a court heard.

Simon Sparrow, 44, is standing trial accused of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. He has denied the charge.

King's Lynn crown court heard yesterday that Sparrow was involved in an altercation with another man, Elliot Wilson, in Hunstanton, in the early hours of May 9 last year.

Mr Wilson, a plant operator, told the court he had gone out for the night with his girlfriend, Melissa Goodrum, and they had ended up, at about midnight, at O'Quigley's bar in Le Strange Terrace, Hunstanton.

Mr Wilson said he had drunk about six points of beer, plus a couple of shots of Sambucas, and consumed another pint at the bar.

He first saw Sparrow, from Walton Road, Wisbech, at O'Quigley's bar, and they bumped into each other again outside a nearby kebab shop, where they became involved in an altercation in the doorway.

Daniel Taylor, prosecuting, said Sparrow was with a woman, who had also been in the bar, and she was standing by the side of his parked van. She threw two bottles towards Mr Wilson's group and then approached them.

Mr Wilson said: 'She pulled Melissa to the ground by her hair. There was a scuffle. The bald man was by the van on the driver's side. He was holding a rifle towards us. He was just metres away and pointing it at our group. He was quite aggressive.'

Mr Wilson said he ran away as he thought it was 'probably the best thing to do'.

In cross examination, Hugh Vass, for Sparrow, suggested that Mr Wilson and another man had punched Sparrow in the face after he came out of the kebab shop and that he had blood on his face, but Mr Wilson said that was untrue.

Mr Wilson's girlfriend Melissa Goodrum said her boyfriend had sworn at Sparrow and had urged him to get out of the van, after he left the kebab shop.

She said she walked over to her boyfriend and told him they needed to go home, but he swore at her.

She said there was a man and a woman sitting in the van, and the woman came out and threw a bottle.

'She came charging towards me and Elliot pushed her. She fell to the floor. She grabbed me by the hair and ended up on top of me on the floor. My friends pulled us apart.

'A man in a red T-shirt got out of the van. It was the same man I had seen earlier. He had a stocky build, was bald and tanned. 'He pointed a gun towards us. It was long and thin and it reminded me of something a farmer would use. I heard him say, 'I'm going to shoot. I'll shoot'. I stood there - I did not know what was going on.'

She then ran away with her boyfriend.

The trial continues.