A war veteran who pointed a gun at police while suffering from post traumatic stress disorder has had his jail term cut.

Nick Munro was put behind bars for four years after he aimed the weapon at two officers near his home in Wickham Street, Rochester.

It was only after they persuaded the drunk ex-soldier to put down the gun that they found it was an unloaded air pistol.

Munro, who served in the Gulf during his Army career, protested in court when he was handed his four-year sentence last December, saying: “Where’s the justice in that? I want to appeal this.”

Now a judge at London’s Court of Appeal has now cut his jail term to two and a half years.

Munro denied possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, but was convicted by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court.

The veteran, who was 47 at the time, said he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and must have been acting out of automatism – so he could not be held responsible for his actions because he had no conscious knowledge of them.

The court heard Munro obtained the gun after he was attacked by two men near his home on December 7 last year.

Witnesses Richard and Charlotte Jones had been in their car with their children when they saw Munro being beaten up.

Mrs Jones called for the police and an ambulance but minutes later, Mr Jones shouted to his wife to get the children out of the area as Munro had a gun.

One of the officers called to the scene was PC Deborah Phillips. She said when she and the other officer arrived and saw the gun, a firearms team was alerted.

“He was holding it from side to side across his chest. It was a handgun with a long barrel,” she said.

“He held his arm out straight and pointed the gun at us. I thought I was dealing with a real firearm. I thought I was going to be shot.”

After finally being persuaded to put the gun down Munro ran off, but was soon arrested.