POLICE were so concerned about the behaviour of a retired senior Bolton Council official that they seized his guns and revoked his firearms licence, a court has been told.

Adrian Golland, the borough’s former assistant director of engineering, is appealing against the revocation of the licence at Bolton Crown Court.

In a two-day hearing the court heard allegations that 71-year-old Mr Golland, a lay canon at Manchester Cathedral, had become involved in a bitter dispute with the vicar at St Paul’s Church, Astley Bridge, the Rev Nick McKee.

Louise Brandon, for Greater Manchester Police, told how Mr Golland’s complaints about his alleged treatment by Mr McKee began in March, 2012, after a decision was made to close a sink facility in the church which had been renovated by the pensioner.

An electrical socket, which Mr Golland told the court had been put in by a professional electrician, was deemed to be dangerous, but Mr Golland told the Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson, that he believed Mr McKee was blaming him for problems with the project.

“My reputation at St Paul’s had been seriously damaged by the closure of what was deemed to be my work,” Mr Golland told the court.

“I valued my reputation and it had been trashed in the eyes of the congregation.”

Mr Golland had been chairman of the church’s building group and served on the parochial church council, but resigned these positions as a result of the dispute.

The judge, sitting with two magistrates on the appeal panel, were told that Mr Golland had meetings with senior Church of England clergy in an effort to air his grievances against the vicar.

But the court also heard that his behaviour, with allegations of him staring at Mr McKee during services and an extensive email correspondence with other church members, was causing tensions in the congregation.

Despite the bad feeling, Mr Golland ignored a request by the archdeacon to stay away from St Paul’s.

“I was not prepared to be excluded from a church I had attended some 15 years longer than Rev McKee,” said Mr Golland.

Mr Golland dismissed Miss Brandon’s suggestions that the vicar had never been adversarial towards him and he was being paranoid by claiming Mr McKee was behind a vendetta campaign against him.

The court was also told that police were called to Mr Golland’s home in June, 2013, by his wife, Carol, who claimed he had assaulted her.

Mr Golland claimed in court that his wife, to whom he has been married for 41 years, had “exploded in a temper tantrum” after they returned home from Bolton Little Theatre.

He said he had pushed past his wife, she had then fallen and police arrived, but took no further action.

But police, who were also contacted by administrators at St Paul’s Church about the pensioner’s behaviour towards the vicar, were so concerned that on December 6 last year Greater Manchester Police’s firearms licensing inquiry officer David Smith visited Mr Golland.

His target-shooting rifles were seized and his shotgun and firearms licence was revoked on March 31 this year.

After reports from the church about Mr Golland’s behaviour towards Mr McKee the police also served the pensioner with a police information notice, which is given to people where there are allegations of harassment.

Despite this church officials were so concerned about Mr Golland that they requested a police presence at the church annual meeting.

Two officers attended the meeting on April 6, during which Mr Golland publicly raised the issue of his firearms being confiscated and asked for a statement from Mr McKee that he had never threatened violence towards the clergyman.

Judge Clayson and the magistrates will now consider all the evidence from the appeal and make a judgement on October 28.