A CIDER-SWIGGING poacher with a shotgun drove straight into trouble when he interrupted flying enthusiasts after a barbecue, York Crown Court heard.

Members of York Gliding Club had just finished an outdoor party at Rufforth Airfield when they saw a Fiesta driving erratically and performing circles shortly after midnight on the airstrip on May 26, 1997, said Tony Stevenson, prosecuting.

Worried that the intruder would damage their gliders two of the party set out in their cars to stop him.

As the Fiesta struggled to escape it backed into the doors of a hangar and crashed into another car, said Mr Stevenson.

Its driver, Andrew Leslie Mann, 44, appeared to be drunk and was swigging cider.

Behind the front seats was an illegal shotgun.

Interviewed by police, Mann claimed he had gone to the airfield with two others to catch rabbits. His companions had fled at the first sign of trouble, said Mr Stevenson.

Mann, of Bramham Avenue, York, pleaded guilty to possessing a shotgun without a licence, trespassing with a shotgun and criminal damage.

He also admitted possessing heroin and crack on another occasion, handling stolen personal documents, faking an insurance cover note to evade a charge of driving without insurance, driving without insurance, stealing a driving licence and forging a car tax disc.

Judge Jonathan Crabtree jailed him for a total of five months and said Mann should be grateful to the gliding club members for catching him before he could commit further offences. He also banned him from driving for six months.

Tim Caswell, for Mann, said his client was registered as disabled and suffering from hepatitis. He had been a heroin addict for 25 years, but at the time of the offences had been receiving very little if any help for his addiction.

"He has struggled to bring himself from the abyss to bring himself to a degree of stability with his family life," said Mr Caswell.Mann was not a violent man and he took his family responsibilities seriously.

He had not driven the car to the airfield and the shotgun was not his.

The driving licence he had found outside a nightclub and the other stolen documents were left in his home by someone else.

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