A MAN who tucked a starting pistol down the back of his trousers while going out drinking in the centre of Newport has been jailed for three months.

Lucian Patru appeared at Cardiff Crown court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to carrying an imitation firearm.

The court heard the 37-year-old, who has been in police custody since he was arrested and appeared in court via video link from HMP Cardiff, had been arrested at the Shell petrol station in Malpas Road at around 4am on Tuesday, May 30 after a witness called police, saying they had seen what appeared to be what appeared to be a gun tucked in the back of his trousers.

When officers arrived this was found to be a starting pistol and Patru, of Canon Street, Newport, was arrested.

Richard Ace, prosecuting, said Patru had told police he had been out drinking in the city centre and had taken the gun out with him as "it made him feel safer".

"He said he accepted he would use it to scare others if he felt intimidated and the situation arose," he said.

But Adam Sharp, defending, said his client, who was born in Romania and came to the UK 2010, moving to Newport last year to work in a restaurant, had "a level of ignorance" about the law in the UK around carrying guns.

Jailing Patru for three months, Judge William Gaskell said, while he recognised there was no risk to the public, the potential fear which could be caused be seeing someone with what appeared to be a gun should not be discounted.

"It is a matter of fact there was no risk of death or wounding," he said."But such weapons can be used to threaten or frighten. Such weapons are very difficult to distinguish from the real thing.

"In fact, at night it would be almost impossible to distinguish between an imitation pistol and a real one."

He added: "Firearms like this, the real ones, are used to kill, so when someone in the street is faced by something that looks like this they are going to be terrified."

Patru was also ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge and a forfeiture and destruction order was made in relation to the starting pistol.