Police 'feared for their lives' as paedophile armed himself with 'gun' on Leeds street
He armed himself over fears of gang retribution for his child-sex offence
A convicted teenage paedophile left police officers fearing for their lives as he pointed a ‘gun’ at them then chased them down his street.
Paul Barker armed himself with the weapon when they came to his home in Richmond Hill to arrest him.
The 19-year-old was jailed at Leeds Crown Court today.
Barker had been convicted in January last year of inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
As part of his punishment, he was given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to allow his internet use to be monitored.
But he later sold his phone which put him in breach of the SHPO, because it left officers unable to check his internet history.
On the morning of June 18 this year, officers went to his home address on Temple View Terrace, Richmond Hill, to arrest him.
They knocked but nobody answered, prosecutor Eleanor Mitten said.
Suspecting he was inside, they then started up a ripsaw and pretended to cut through his door. The pretense worked and he appeared at an upstairs window and appeared to be holding a handgun with a scope sight attached.
He pointed it through the open window towards the officers with his finger on the trigger.
They quickly retreated and took cover behind the parked police vehicles.
Body-worn camera footage was played to the court in which they called for the street to be sealed off.
But Barker then ran out of the property, still armed with the weapon, and down the street, appearing to chase one of the officers.
He was able to flee the scene, but was later arrested. The weapon was never found, but Barker later claimed it to be an imitation.
Victim impact statements from three of the attending officers were paraphrased by Ms Mitten, with one saying they feared they would be shot and killed in the street.
A female officer described it as being “one of the most frightening experiences she had ever been through” and “genuinely feared for her life”.
Appearing in court over a video link from HMP Doncaster where he is being held on remand, Barker admitted breaching his SHPO and possessing an imitation firearm with an intent to cause a fear of violence.
He has 10 previous convictions, including the sexual offence, for violence and possessing an offensive weapon from 2022.
Mitigating, Jemima Stephenson-Finn said Barker maintains the weapon was made of styrofoam. She said the incident was short-lived, that he “simply didn’t think” and just “wanted the police to go away”.
She said that since his conviction for child-sex offence, he feared gangs coming to his home for retribution.
Judge Robin Mairs told Barker: “The police had reason to believe the gun was real.
“You say it was an imitation, but many firearms are modified by criminals so they can be lethal weapons.
“It occurred on a residential street.
“There were thankfully few members of the public on the street. This was a place where people live and go about their daily business.”
He accepted that the gun was an imitation, given that it was never located to prove otherwise.
He jailed him for a total of 27 months.