‘James Bond’ gun in pub was prop, claims accused
AMAN who is accused of taking a replica “James Bond” pistol into a pub said it was intended as a prop for his mother’s amateur theatre production, a court has heard.
A scuffle broke out in the bar when concerned customers saw the imitation weapon in the waistband of Fraser Daniel Rees’ trousers, and tried to disarm him.
Rees denies possession of a firearm in a public place – saying he had a reasonable excuse for having it with him, and in any case has lawful authority to carry it – and is conducting his own defence at a Swansea Crown Court trial.
It is the prosecution case that Rees went into the Red Lion pub in Cardigan on April 2 last year with the airsoft weapon tucked into his trousers.
Dyfed Thomas, prosecuting, told the jury the gun was a replica of a Walther PPK, the handgun made famous by Sean Connery and Roger Moore in their portrayals of suave spy James Bond.
Mr Thomas said a scuffle ensued in the pub involving Rees and a number of customers, and at one stage Rees was seen to hold up the Walther and shout “It’s a fake”.
Rees was disarmed, and subsequently left the pub. The court heard police were called and the 41-yearold was found outside the bar. The officer described him as “incoherent”.
The trial heard that Rees had attended a church in Nevern where his behaviour caused the lay preacher some concern.
Steve Watkins, the lay vicar, said the defendant had entered the church while the service was in progress, sat in the front of the church, and began enthusiastically agreeing with everything he said.
He said at the end of the service Rees had handed him a troubling letter which set out his “world view”, and in which he seemed to feel that “part of the solution to the problems in the world was killing people”.
In the afternoon, Rees went to Cardigan police station and asked for details of paedophiles in the locality.
The court heard the police officer on the front counter told him that information was not available to the public.
Later that day the defendant went to the Red Lion.
The court heard the Walther PKK at the centre of the case had been lent to Rees by a friend called Gareth Allerton who was described as an “airsoft and James Bond fanatic”.
It is agreed the air weapon was not in a state such that it could be fired – it fell apart when examined by a police firearms expert, a former armourer with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
Giving evidence in his own defence, Rees told the court he had borrowed the Walther because his mother needed a realistic-looking prop for her forthcoming Cardigan theatre production of Blackadder.
During the course of the hearing he questioned the legality of his arrest and the validity of the expert firearms evidence, raised concerns about the prosecution’s – and the judge’s – lack of knowledge of constitutional law, accused the prosecution barrister of trying to mislead the court, and tried to hand copies of the 1688 Bill of Rights to the jury.
He told the members of the jury the Bill of Rights was there to protect them from a tyrannical regime.
Under cross examination from Mr Thomas for the prosecution, the defendant said: “I borrowed it [the Walther PKK] for a play. I didn’t conceal it. I asked Gareth to give me something that would not get me into trouble. I am an honest person.”
Asked why he took the item into the pub with him, he said he did not want to leave it in the car.
He said: “It does not matter because it was not an airsoft or a firearm. Even if it was, I have lawful authority. Lord Denning said I am entitled to have it for self-defence.”
The barrister said: “What were you defending yourself against?”
Rees replied: “People like you who are trying to send me to prison.”
The defendant said: “My liberty is at stake. All I did was a favour for my mum. I had a reasonable excuse which I thought you guys would understand. I was told it would not get me into trouble.”
Rees, of St Mary’s Street, Cardigan, denies possession of an imitation firearm in a public place.
The trial continues.