A gunman wearing a clown mask and latex gloves put a pistol to a neighbour's head and fired it - temporarily deafening and blinding the victim, a jury was told.

Dean Snarey, 42, of Burns Way, Swindon, had gone to the neighbouring house to demand payment of an alleged debt of £800 and took an Ekol Geiz blank-firing pistol with him, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of blackmail, possession of an imitation firearm while committing an offence, and possessing the gun with intent to cause fear of violence.

He is alleged to have committed the offences in his home street on the morning of October 6, 2023.

Swindon Advertiser: Images from the scene of the crime, Burns Way, October 6, 2023

Prosecutor Emily Evans told the jury that the offences were committed at the home of Natasha Hunt.

The background was that Snarey had sold a car to Ms Hunt's partner, Keith Goodings, who still owed him £800 but had left the property and no longer lived there at the time of the incident, she said.

On the morning of October 6, between 5am and 9am, Snarey telephoned Ms Hunt 23 times, said Ms Evans. In the first call at 5am he told her she had two hours to find the £800 he was owed.

"She said she didn't have that kind of money and there wasn't much she could do about it anyway at 5am.

"Later, the defendant was seen on CCTV footage to leave his home and head in the direction of Ms Hunt's house.

"He was wearing a clown mask. He returned about 10 minutes later. Thereafter, similar calls from him to her continued.

"At or about 7-8am Natasha Hunt's phone sent the defendant a message saying she was on the phone trying to get the money sorted. At about 8.20am the defendant was seen for a second time to leave his address, this time with a gun poking out of his trouser pocket.

Swindon Advertiser: Images from the scene of the crime, Burns Way, October 6, 2023

"He went to Ms Hunt's address, again wearing a clown mask, carrying the gun and wearing blue latex gloves.

"When he arrived there, the occupants say, he was trying to force the door and the force he used caused the door mechanism to break on the inside.

"As a result, Ms Hunt's son Cameron left the address from a different door and went to the front of the property to see if he could open it from outside. When he got there the defendant was there and he instructed Cameron to kick the door in so he could gain entry.

"Cameron refused. The defendant threatened him and said if he didn't open the door he was going to shoot him.

"He then took the gun out of his pocket, held it against the side of Cameron's head, and discharged it. The bullet, which was a blank - fortunately - grazed the side of Cameron's head, disorientating him so that he was unable, temporarily, to see or hear anything.

"The defendant left the address having removed the clown mask but still wearing the gloves and returned home.

"He then sent another message to Natasha Hunt saying 'It's £1,000 now. One hour.'

"Before the hour was up, however, the defendant had been arrested."

Ms Evans said Snarey accepts that he went to Ms Hunt's address that morning but says his visit was only to find out if Mr Goodings was okay.

"He accepts he was wearing a clown mask," she said. "He says it was a joke.

"He will say that he spoke to Natasha Hunt and that the subject of the debt came up but he will deny that he gave any kind of ultimatum or that he gave her a two-hour window to get the money.

"He will deny that he made any unwarranted demand with menaces. He says he took the gun with him because Cameron wanted to look at it with a view to buying it from him.

"He will deny trying to force the door open. He says he showed Cameron the gun and fired it to show him that it worked and he says he then left the address."

The trial resumes on Wednesday (May 1).