A man who pointed a gun at a homeowner and threatened to ‘pistol whip’ a driver has been jailed.

Dean Sanders, of no fixed address, was jailed by Preston Crown Court for the series of violent incidents that took place during mid-January.

The 30-year-old began his three-hour rampage by approaching a property in Mendip Road, Leyland.

He knocked on the door of the house around 10.10pm on January 14. A 28-year-old woman answered and told him he had the wrong address, and as she closed the door he produced an imitation handgun.

Sanders made off from the scene and phoned someone he knew around 10.30pm asking to be collected from a petrol station in Wigan Road.

Once in the car he produced the imitiation gun and threatened to ‘pistol whip’ the 38-year-old driver who had his wife and two-year-old daughter in the car.

Sanders was taken to a takeaway in Royal Avenue where he went behind the counter and asked the owner for a lift to another address.

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The owner refused and Sanders then pointed the imitation gun at the takeaway owner.

Bravely the 39-year-old man knocked the gun from Sanders hand but was then punched in the face.

Sanders left the takeaway and returned to the car with the family in it, and ordered to be driven to the family’s home in Meadowcroft Road.

Several other children were present at the home when Sanders arrived and stole a pair of Nike trainers.

He returned to the house at 1.10am on 15 January and South Ribble Police arrested him.

During the arrest he punched a police officer in the back of the head. He was also found with a knife in the back pocket of his trousers.

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DC Dominic Webster of Preston Police said: “Dean Sanders visited several addresses on the night of January 14th and 15th in possession of an incredibly realistic-looking fake handgun and a knife. He threatened several people with the imitation firearm, apparently giving no thought to the fear he was causing.

“I am satisfied that the courts have taken this seriously and have handed Sanders a lengthy term behind bars.”

Sanders pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm, possession of an offensive weapon, theft from a dwelling and assault of a police officer. He was jailed for four years and eight weeks.