A 17-YEAR-OLD who brandished an imitation gun outside a busy supermarket and then headbutted a teenager has been jailed.

Vincent James Parkes, of Church Street, Wincham, was handed a 10-month Detention and Training Order (DTO), in addition to a three-year Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), at Vale Royal Youth Court on Wednesday.

Parkes was found guilty of using an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear, alarm or distress.

It followed an incident on the evening of September 30, when he was with friends outside the Tesco Express store at Kings-mead, Northwich.

A man talking to his girlfriend on his mobile phone became aware of the group mocking him and following him after he had used the cashpoint outside the shop.

Parkes, who initially had his face covered with a black scarf, became involved in a verbal altercation with the man.

Lawrence Bestow, prosecuting, said the man had laughed at an injury to Parkes' nose after he had removed the scarf, which prompted the teenager to lift his jumper and pulled out a 6in black plastic gun from the waistline of his trousers.

The victim, who thought the gun was real, stared down the barrel as Parkes held it a metre from his face. Parkes asked the man: 'Are you part of the Rudheath crew?'

The man ran into the nearby take-away where his friends were and dialled 999.

While on bail for the offence, on January 26, Parkes became embroiled in a scuffle with a 16-year-old male - again near to the shops at Kingsmead - head-butting him and punching him in the face.

During the altercation, Parkes also knocked over the teenager's motorbike, causing £400 worth of damage.

The victim was left with a 3in cut over his eye and bruising to the face, and was taken to Leighton Hospital for treatment.

John Ryan, defending, said: 'The defendant has learned his lesson. A custodial sentence would have a negative effect on him as he would be associating with criminals.'

But chairman of the bench, John Meredith, told Parkes, who has previous convictions for assault and threatening behaviour: 'You deliberately pulled out a gun and pointed it in someone's face.

'We feel this is so serious only a custodial sentence will suffice. If you don't do as you are told you will be brought back to court.'

Parkes was given a six-month sentence for the first offence and four months for the assault. He will serve five months in 'secure accommodation', and five months under supervision in the community.

Magistrates ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the gun, and issued the ASBO preventing him from entering the Kingsmead area.