Man jailed for racial assault and BB gun threat

Police said Wayne Prescott subjected a council worker to "a torrent of racial abuse"

A homeless man has been jailed after threatening and chasing a member of the public with an imitation gun in Nottingham.

Wayne Prescott, 33, had been sleeping rough in Curzon Street Car Park when he got into an argument with a man on 12 March and later pointed a BB gun at him, Nottinghamshire Police said.

In the early hours of the following day, Prescott punched a student in the face outside the Victoria Centre before racially abusing a council worker later that day and headbutting him, the force added.

Prescott, formerly of Pearmain Drive in Nottingham, was jailed for 35 months at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to three offences.

CCTV footage captured shortly after 07:00 GMT on 12 March showed Prescott getting up from a sitting position before chasing his first victim and pointing the BB gun at him.

Officers arrived at the scene a short time later and recovered the imitation firearm from a nearby bin, the force said.

According to police, Prescott sought out a confrontation with a group of students in the early hours of 13 March, and punched one of them in the face, knocking them to the ground.

Police said Prescott racially assaulted the council worker later that day after he had asked him and a friend to move on from the car park.

In August, he pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, actual bodily harm and racially-aggravated assault.

Speaking at his sentencing, Prescott's defence counsel said her client felt deep remorse and was making efforts to withdraw from drugs.

Det Con Jess Dennis said: "Prescott may have been homeless at the time of these offences but that is no defence for the appalling behaviour he displayed.

"I am pleased he has now been handed a significant jail sentence and hope this case serves as a reminder to others about how seriously we take offences of this nature – particularly those involving imitation weapons."