A MAN who had stuffed an imitation Glock pistol down his trousers threatened to blast a police officer in the head.

When arrested, Martin Flatley subjected three cops to a barrage of racist abuse, while lashing out at them and making threats.

Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard how the 24-year-old's own mother had called the police on him after becoming concerned about his behaviour.

When officers arrived at the woman's Ramsbottom property on September 14 2020, she informed them that her son had left the address a couple of days early before returning that morning.

When she asked him about what he had been up to while he was gone, he responded by saying he had been with drug dealers and claimed that someone had been shot.

He then told her that he needed his air pistol before leaving the address with the imitation weapon down his trousers.

A search of the area ensued and Flatley was later found after being spotted by a member of the public in a pub.

Handcuffs were placed on him so he could be searched and as that was being done, he lashed out at officers, calling them racist names.

The Glock was located and Flatley, of Lodge Street, Accrington, was taken into custody at which point he continued to make comments and threatened to shoot an officer in the head.

In defence it was heard how the defendant had been suffering with mental health issues at the time of the incident but had since started taking his medication and was back on a better path.

Sentencing, Judge Paul Lawton said: "On September 14 your mother called the police because she was concerned not only for your mental welfare but also because you had left the house with an imitation firearm it was an air pistol that looked like a Glock.

"When you were found it was in your waistband. You hadn't produced it or used it in any manner.

"When you were arrested you were racially abusive to all three attending officers who located you on Bolton Road West.

"The normal course of events all of this would result in a custodial sentence, but the court cannot ignore the fact that all of this was driven by your mental health difficulties.

"The good news is that your condition has established, and you are using your medication. That allows the court to put you on a community order."

The community order will last 18 months with Flatley required to attend a thinking skills programme and 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Flatley was convicted of one count of possession of an imitation firearm and three counts of racially aggravated harassment at an earlier hearing.