Man who fired shots near mosque was shooting at rabbits

A man arrested after gunshots were heard outside a mosque had been firing at rabbits in a car park, magistrates have accepted.

Ian Peart, 44, was detained after an incident in which he was seen using an air rifle in the early hours of 30 July near to York Mosque.

On Monday prosecutors said Peart's explanation "appears to have been accepted" by police and that the defendant had insisted there was "no intention to cause anyone any harm" and "no evidence on the file to suggest that it was in any way an anti-Muslim case."

Peart appeared at York Magistrates' Court where he was fined after he pleaded guilty to possession of a loaded air weapon in a public place.

Magistrates said they accepted the building and its occupants were not the defendant's intended target.

Sarah Tyrer, prosecuting, told the court a witness heard a "big noise" outside the mosque, on Bull Lane, which he described as "like a gunshot – the type you would hear in the movies".

The prosecutor said the witness then spotted a man in a car at the gates of the mosque, brandishing a gun through an open door.

The witness then heard a second shot, it was said, as he tried to take pictures and videos of the man in the car and was worried the defendant was shooting at the mosque.

The court heard the witness saw the man drive off quickly, without shutting the car door.

Peart, of Bellfarm Avenue in York, was tracked down by officers with the help of his registration plate.

After his arrest he told detectives that he worked part-time in pest control and he had been out testing his air rifle with its infra-red scope.

He said he had fired shots at rabbits in a car park, but had missed.

Magistrates told Peart "the fact you were near a mosque was irrelevant" and there was "no suggestion that this building or its occupants were the intended target".

They said: "We accept your intention was to shoot rabbits."

Peart was fined £317 and ordered to pay a further £199 in costs and government surcharge.

He was allowed to keep his air rifle, which he said he needed for his work.

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