Weapon 'obsessed' man chased group into shop with 'revolver'

Wanrong Liang brandished the imitation firearm having pursued the four young men into a convenience store in Turlin Moor.

He fled the scene but was traced by police a short time later to a flat in Sterte Road.

Inside the property officers discovered a large haul of weapons, which included Tasers and CS sprays.

The gas-powered imitation firearm used during the incident at Spar in Turlin Road was found in the backpack of a child who was trying to leave the address.

A stun gun disguised as a torch was also located and seized.

Liang, aged 30, was in the dock at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, May 12, to be sentenced for the offences he committed on the evening of Wednesday, January 4.

The defendant previously pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of a disguised firearm.

Judge Robert Pawson told the defendant: “At some stage before January 4 this year you became, it seems from what I have seen and read, obsessed with weapons.

“Because on January 4 whilst out cycling, wearing a face mask and a helmet, for reasons that are quite unclear to me, you took with you an imitation firearm which discharged projectiles and was gas powered.”

Prosecuting, Tom Wright said there had been some sort of brief exchange between the defendant and the group of men which led to Liang producing the ‘revolver’.

The group had encountered Liang on his electric bicycle near the Spar shop.

“The defendant cycled in their direction and shouted ‘oi, **** you’ and put his middle finger up to them,” Mr Wright said.

He proceeded to put his right hand in his upper breast pocket and pulled out a black object, the prosecutor said.

The court heard the group ran into the nearby Spar, going towards the back of the shop.

“Mr Liang chased after them,” Mr Wright said. “He stopped by the front tills and he brandished the gun in their direction, it looking for all the world like a black revolver.”

The prosecutor played CCTV footage which showed the defendant raise the ‘gun’ above his head and point it across the shop before leaving.

Mr Wright said Liang was identified quickly and officers went to his flat above a Chinese restaurant in Sterte Road.

Police found a “large number of weapons” in the residential address as well as a machete under the counter of the restaurant, the court heard.

Police in the area of Sterte Road after the incident (Image: Newsquest)

The imitation firearm was assessed as being a “good representation of a genuine firearm”.

Mitigating, Jeffrey Yearwood said the defendant’s partner had written an “extremely touching” reference.

“This defendant has no previous convictions recorded against him,” Mr Yearwood said. “The act is very much out of character as far as he is concerned.”

Mr Yearwood said all of the weapons except for the imitation firearm had not been taken out onto the streets.

Judge Pawson said in the pre-sentence report the defendant had said “he felt lonely and a bit unsafe and those items make him feel better”.

Wanrong Liang (Image: Dorset Police)

The judge said Liang had given different accounts to police and probation.

At various times he had said the group of males were rude to him, they had committed a criminal offence against him two years ago but he did not report it, they had made racist remarks and they may have been armed with knives.

“It doesn’t account for why you pursued them into the shop,” Judge Pawson said. “There were other members of the public around. You struggle to account in the pre-sentence report why you had gone out in public with the weapon.”

Spar in Turlin Road, Poole (Image: Newsquest)

Liang, of Draper Road, Christchurch, was sentenced to five years imprisonment, which was the statutory minimum sentence for the possession of the disguised stun gun.