A man has been sentenced for waving an imitation gun out of his car window with the intention to cause fear or violence towards Salford’s Jewish community.
Julius Goncarukas, 42, was arrested in August last year after police received phone calls concerning a man driving past Welbeck Grove in Salford waving the firearm, a gas-powered BB gun, out of his car window towards the residents.
The Crown Prosecution Service stated that as children were playing outside, Mr Goncarukas drove down the street waving the BB gun out of the driver’s window, causing residents to run away from the car in fear.
A young boy, who saw Mr Goncarukas with the imitation gun, was described as “crying hysterically” when he ran inside.
The court gave Mr Goncarukas sixteen months in jail, suspended for eighteen months. He is additionally required to serve fifteen days of rehabilitation, and was handed a 90-day alcohol monitoring order. This uplifted sentence reflected the hate element of the case, which Mr Goncarukas had initially denied.
He was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court.
