A MAN who wore women's make-up while threatening two terrified victims with a gun said he had done it "for a laugh", a court heard.

John Paul Devaney, aged 20, of Newby Road, Breightmet, told police he had allowed friends to put the make-up on him for a joke.

He was also wearing a red bandana and a white baseball cap with "BNP" written on it with lipstick when he was arrested in July last year.

Devaney was first spotted with what turned out to be an imitation pistol at the Middlebrook retail park at 11.40pm.

Later he pointed the gun at his own head in front of a mother and then aimed the gun at a man at another address, said Peter Cadwallader, prosecuting, at Bolton Crown Court. Devaney and co-accused Ian Stuart Dalgleish, who drove him between the two houses, were arrested when armed police surrounded their car following a security alert.

Devaney told police he was "drunk out of his head" and had been smoking cannabis.

"I just started having a laugh with the gun," Devaney said in a police interview, a transcript of which was read out in court on Wednesday. "I didn't realise how much trouble I could get in.

"My head was battered that night. I just had to go and do something to cheer myself up."

The court heard that the pair had been drinking at Devaney's brother's flat earlier that evening. They put make-up on Devaney so he could go into the Shell petrol station on Wigan Road and ask "have you seen my pigeons" for a joke.

Dalgleish, aged 32, of Tarleton Place, off Hulton Lane, told the court that Devaney was a friend of his brother. The two men went for a drive in Dalgleish's new car.

Dalgleish said he stopped to urinate in bushes outside the home of Katherine Hope, and Devaney pointed the gun at his own head in front of the woman.

"He came back to the car and said what he had done," said Dalgleish. "I thought he was a lunatic and I just wanted him out of my car as soon as possible."

Mrs Hope crawled from the kitchen of her house on Rutherford Drive, Over Hulton, to the stairs, thinking she was about to come under attack, said Mr Cadwallader.

Dalgleish then stopped his car on St Helens Road, Deane, to phone Devaney's brother, Shaun, from a phone box. Devaney got out, knocked on Michael Kilcoyne's door and pointed the gun at him.

He asked him: "Do you mind if I shoot you?"

Dalgleish told the court he had not seen either offence.

Devaney is facing three counts of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear.

Dalgleish is facing two counts of the same charge.

The pair deny the charges.

A third count against Dalgleish was on Wednesday dismissed.

Proceeding