Beachgoers were left shocked after a former soldier began firing a rifle on the beach at Great Yarmouth. 

Albert Ciorvasi, 43, was arrested after police swooped on the seafront when other people on the sands reported hearing shots being fired. 

The former officer in the Romanian Army later told officers he had been firing the weapon as target practice, Norwich Magistrates’ Court heard.

Prosecutor Denise Howard said beachgoers had become “very concerned” after hearing a series of bangs.  

Eastern Daily Press: Shocked beachgoers called police after hearing shots being fired.Shocked beachgoers called police after hearing shots being fired. (Image: Newsquest)

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Police found the ex-soldier armed with a .22 air rifle with a telescopic sight, to shoot from distance, during the incident on September 30, the court was told.

“When interviewed by police he said he didn’t have a garden so he went to the beach to shoot some targets. He denied anyone was ever endangered,” said Ms Howard.  

Speaking through a Romanian interpreter, Ciorvasi, of Exmouth Road in Great Yarmouth, also pleaded guilty to criminal damage and burglary.

Anne-Marie Sheridan, mitigating, said he had moved to the UK in 2008 to become a strawberry picker after being dismissed from the army for drunkenness. 

“He didn’t understand that the law in this country prohibits people from possessing and carrying a weapon of this type in public,” she said.

Eastern Daily Press: Norwich Magistrates' Court was told Albert Ciorvasi had been undertaking target practice Norwich Magistrates' Court was told Albert Ciorvasi had been undertaking target practice (Image: Newsquest)

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His offending was the result of alcohol addiction and he had recently been sacked from his job at Gressingham Duck.

He was drunk when he broke into a property on October 6 to steal a microwave and smashed a car window on Marine Parade on October 10 only stealing a mobile phone accessory, she said. 

"They were spur of the moment actions. Only someone drunk would commit offences like this," she added.

Magistrates adjourned his sentencing until December 10 at Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court telling him “all options were open”.

He was given conditional bail requiring him to report to police once a week.