A drunk yob who threatened a father with an air pistol as he and his partner returned home with their eight-week-old baby has been jailed for two years.

Liam Sandham, who had downed three bottles of wine, pointed the gun at Lee Ralph and threatened: “I will shoot you.”

He was soon afterwards seen to fire it in the direction of a house.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr Ralph was reversing his car onto his driveway in Station Road, Aylesford, on May 31 last year when he heard shouting.

Sandham told him he had almost run over his dog. There was an argument and Mr Ralph told the 23-year-old not to be stupid and to go away.

Prosecutor Andrew Forsyth said Sandham lifted his top to reveal the gun. He then pulled it from the front of his jeans.

Mr Ralph told his partner to take their child indoors. Sandham pointed the gun at him as he sat in his car and threatened to shoot him.

Sandham put the weapon back into his jeans. As Mr Ralph called the police he saw Sandham fire the pistol.

He then walked back and went into a house in Sedley Close. The gun belonged to the man living there. Sandham had taken his dog for a walk and had the pistol without his permission.

When arrested, Sandham punched the window of a police car. When a special constable tried to stop him, he spat in his face.

He later told officers he had drunk three bottles of wine and smoked a “spliff”.

Sandham, of Elborough Road, South Norwood, admitted possessing a firearm with intent to threaten violence and common assault. He had 29 previous convictions for 50 offences.

Judge Martin Joy said: “A drunk man is an unpredictable man.

“This was not a joke.”

He told Sandham: “Until you take responsibility for addressing substance misuse the harm to the public will increase in seriousness and severity.”