A former taxi driver will spend 10 months in jail and 10 months on license after he pointed a fake gun at a passenger.
A video of the driver pointing what appeared to be a gun at another man went viral on social media.
Brian Alexander Stalford from Park Avenue in east Belfast was under the influence of cocaine during the attack, the court heard.
On Tuesday, the former taxi driver heard he will spend 10 months in jail and 10 months on license for the incident that took place last year.
The 49-year-old father-of-two, from Park Avenue in East Belfast, pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and was sentenced by Judge Donna McColgan KC.
During today’s hearing, it was reviewed that Stalford issued the threat to the front-seat passenger over a drug debt.
His barrister Sean Devine said the “supreme irony” of the incident was that Stalford issued the threat to pay off his drug debt, and was under the influence of cocaine at the time.
Belfast Crown Court heard that between March and June 2023 Stalford worked as a taxi driver for Fonacabs in Belfast.
The court had heard he possessed a handgun resembling a ‘Desert Eagle’ self-loading pistol.
Crown barrister Natalie Pinkerton told Judge Donna McColgan KC that the prosecution was leaving two remaining counts ‘on the books’.
These counts were assaulting a front seat passenger and threatening to kill the same male, on a date between 1 March and 2 June 2023.
