AN 'INTOXICATED' thug who pulled a working firearm from his pants and knocked his own brother out with it has been jailed.
Jamie Williams, of Chapel Street in Caernarfon, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentence on Monday morning.
The 24-year-old had previously admitted offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possession of a firearm without certification, possession of ammunition without certification, converting an imitation firearm into a firearm and possession of cannabis.
Emmalyne Downing, prosecuting, told the court that the primary complainant in the case is the defendant's brother, Chris Williams.
On the evening of April 17 this year, the defendant and another of his brothers, Jack, went to the home of Darcey Bray (Chris Williams' partner).
Chris and Jamie Williams began by 'play-fighting', but later in the night the defendant was seen to "throw the complainant around the bathroom."
Those present tried to separate the parties, but the complainant could not defend himself and received repeated punches to the face.
When both men went downstairs, Jamie Williams pulled a gun from his waistband and struck Chris Williams with the handle; knocking him out.
Despite his brother lying unconscious on the floor, the defendant repeatedly punched and stamped on his head - appearing to be "out of control" and looking like he "wanted to cause as much damage as possible.
More than once he said be felt he may have killed the complainant, but still carried on hitting him.
He was seen to drop a bullet whilst apparently attempting to load the gun.
While he had the weapon in hand, he pointed it at Bray's head "for a second or two."
Eventually, he was persuaded to put the weapon away, following which he continued to hit his brother.
Following the incident, police searched the defendant's grandmother's home due to information received.
Beneath a screwed down floorboard, they located a carrier bag with the handgun in it - as well as a pair of other guns which were described as air weapons.
The handgun he'd used in the incident was examined and it was discovered that it was in fact an imitation gun that had been modified into a viable firearm.
Also discovered during the search was a small amount of cannabis.
Ms Downing told the court the defendant had 13 previous convictions for 27 offences.
Duncan Bould, defending, told the court: "He's a young man who has had a tumultuous and chaotic upbringing, a lot of which was spent in care in circumstances where his education unfortunately has been limited.
"It seems features of his mental health difficulties are, in the words of the [pre-sentence report] author, 'as yet unmet'.
"This particular night, it seems to have started as play-fighting, but ended up with him seriously assaulting his brother."
Mr Bould asked the court to bear in mind that there was no evidence the weapon had been discharged in the incident, albeit Williams had used it to strike his brother with.
"He is incredibly polite," Mr Bould added.
"You wouldn't imagine he is the kind of person to commit this kind of offence."
Judge Nicola Jones told the defendant: "You were relentless; you were intoxicated and you pulled the handgun from your clothes and hit your brother with it.
"You rendered him unconscious and repeatedly stamped on and punched him.
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"When people tried to intervene, you brandished your gun, one foot from the face of Ms Bray."
Overall, the Judge handed down a custodial term of 67 months and ordered the destruction of the gun and ammunition - as well as the cannabis.
"We're fortunate that not more harm was caused to the people present and the wider public," she concluded.
