A thug pulled an air pistol on a labourer and a 14-year-old boy for making too much noise putting up a fence.
Daniel Stewart, 24, approached the two workers on Lochside Road in Peterhead before producing the handgun from his boxer shorts and pointing it directly at them.
Stewart told the man and the 14-year-old schoolboy, who was working with the garden services firm for the summer: “I’ll make you shut up.”
The pair then fled into a property.
Depute fiscal Katy Begg told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened on July 25 2017 at 11.30am.
She said: “They were approached by the accused who wished to complain about the noise they were making.
“The man tried to reason with the accused, who he described was in a ‘rage’.
“The accused then reached into his boxer shorts and produced a black handgun. He held the handgun and pointed it directly at both of them and said something like ‘I’ll make you shut up’.
“He then pulled the tip of the gun back and a clicking noise was heard, giving the impression that he was loading the gun. At that time he was about 20ft away.
“Fearing for their safety and believing the gun to be real, the witnesses immediately ran and sought refuge in the house they were working on.”
Police were contacted and before firearm officers arrived, Stewart attended at a neighbour’s property, produced the same gun and said: “I’ve just pulled this on some guys working on a fence down the road.”
When police arrived they surrounded the property and a “highly agitated” Stewart emerged shouting: “Go on shoot me, just shoot me, I’m not afraid of you.”
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Officers took hold of him and he began to “struggle violently” before being restrained to the ground.
The handgun was recovered from inside the property in a plastic bag underneath a duvet.
Ms Begg said in an interview Stewart said he bought the gun “to use hunting rabbits”.
Asked what made him angry he replied: “Noise.”
The gun was found to be a gas-powered soft air pistol designed to discharge 6mm BB pellets.
Stewart, described as a prisoner of HMP Grampian, pled guilty to assault by brandishing an imitation firearm and threatening violence, as well as to acting in a threatening or abusive manner and failing to appear at court on a previous date.
The advocate representing Stewart, under the instruction of defence agent Mike Monro, said: “At the time of the offence he’d overdosed on drugs and he has a history of mental health difficulties.”
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin deferred sentence for reports.
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