A MAN travelling on a Stagecoach bus in the Lake District sparked an armed police response as he attempted to inspect the gas-powered BB gun he had just bought – and it accidentally fired.

Aaron Broome, 34, had some serious explaining to do after the alarming incident came to a dramatic climax when the bus stopped near to the Lodore Falls Hotel in Borrowdale, magistrates heard.

At Carlisle’s Rickergate Magistrates’ Court, the defendant admitted possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.

George Shelley, prosecuting, said the offence came to light at around 6pm on September 31 last year when the defendant boarded the bus and went to the top deck, where he took the gun out of its packaging and began to examine it.

A woman who was leaving the bus at the Lodore Falls Hotel stop was so concerned by what she had seen that she mentioned it to the driver, saying there was a man upstairs on the bus “waving a gun around.”

At that point, the driver heard two loud bangs,” said Mr Shelley. The gun had accidentally gone off as the defendant tried to assemble it. “The driver immediately called 999,” added Mr Shelley.

An armed police response unit was sent to the scene, where Broome was arrested and the imitation gun seized. When interviewed by the police, the defendant accepted that the gun looked realistic and his fellow passengers may have perceived it to be real.

Broome has 40 previous offences on his record, including failing to comply with a community order.

Sean Harkin, for Broome, whose address was given as Ribbleton Lane, Preston, said the defendant had not intended to cause anybody alarm. “He’d bought the gun from a shop in Keswick and unfortunately he decided to take it out to look at it while he was on the bus,” said the lawyer.

“He wanted to see whether all the parts were there before getting off the bus. He apologises for any alarm he may have caused. That certainly wasn’t his intention.”

Addressing magistrates, the defendant said: “It was a complete lack of judgement; I should have waited till I got home. I can see why people got frightened because they do look real. I’d be [frightened]. It’s only fair.”

Magistrates fined Broome £80, with a £32 victim surcharge and £85. Presiding magistrate Nick Swinscoe told the defendant: “You were reckless to get it out on the bus, a place where people could clearly see it and be scared.”