A GUNMAN who brought terror to Burnley when he chased his ex-partner’s new man down a street has been jailed for five years.

The town’s crown court heard how residents of Parkinson Street were petrified and some were in tears as they saw Alrick Morgan running after Gavin Binns, holding a real handgun out in front of him.

Morgan then hid the firearm, with a silencer, in a sports bag in the grounds of St Stephen’s Church, Burnley.

But it was found by three schoolboys. They alerted one of their fathers who took it to the police.

Morgan owned up to chasing Mr Binns but denied there had been a gun and claimed it had been part of a fishing rod.

The hearing was told the firearm was capable of being discharged, but couldn’t be fired as the chamber was blocked.

Trouble had started after Mr Binn’s girlfriend Samantha Baxter, also known as Martin, invited her ex, car dealer Morgan, to her Parkinson Street, home. But Mr Binns, who is in his thirties, turned up unexpectedly. He was said to have ‘goaded and taunted’ the defendant after finding him there.

Mr Binns left, returning shortly after and was chased with the weapon which one witness described as like a ‘cowboy gun’.

Morgan, 41, a father-of-five and now a transport manager, of Wood Street, Huddersfield, admitted possessing a prohibited firearm, on September 26, 2011.

Jonathan Dickinson, prosecuting, said frightened witnesses feared for their safety and Mr Binns fled.

The prosecutor said on October 2, three boys were playing football on St Stephen’s Close, near the churchyard.

Their ball went into some bushes in the church grounds, leading to the discovery of the sports bag, gun and silencer.

The firearm was found to have the defendant’s DNA on the barrel. He maintained he had been brandishing a fishing rod.

Mark Foley, defending, said threats from Mr Binns had been relayed to Morgan.

He said: “Whether they were true or not, that was his understanding and it was in the context of that that he behaved in the way he did.”

Sentencing, Recorder Philip Parry said people had been terrified. He said: “And who wouldn’t be? A man running down the street with a revolver.

“An utterly terrifying prospect for all those who saw you, including Gavin Binns.

“He didn’t deserve to be chased down the street in Burnley with a revolver by you. It was merciful that it was in no fit state to fire and there was no ammunition."