A Swindon man accused of firing a starting pistol at a neighbour's head at point-blank range told a jury the alleged victim was standing at least one and a half metres away from him at the time.

Dean Snarey said he had taken the gun to Cameron Goucher's home to show him because he had earlier expressed an interest in buying it from him.

The 42-year-old told Gloucester Crown Court at his trial on Thursday (May 2) that Cameron was standing between one and a half and two metres away from him and asked him to fire the gun to show that it worked.

Snarey, of Burns Way, Swindon, said he pointed the gun down towards the bottom of Mr Goucher's front door to fire it. Goucher was standing to his right behind him, he said.

The prosecution has alleged, however, that Snarey, wearing a clown mask and latex gloves, has taken the gun round to his neighbour's to demand payment of an £800 debt owned by the house owner who had bought a car from him.

Mr Goucher and his mother Natasha Hunt have told the jury that they were terrified by Snarey's early morning arrival at their door and his attempts to force his way in.

Earlier that morning, October 6 last year, he had been phoning and messaging to say he wanted payment of the £800 owed to him by the house owner Keith Goodings, it is alleged.

Read more: Gunman in clown mask left Swindon neighbour terrified

Swindon Advertiser: Police at the scene of the incident in Swindon

But in evidence Snarey said he had put the mask on to amuse his bulldog puppy 'King', who was being looked after by Ms Hunt during renovations at his own house.

"The dog always goes mad when I have anything on my head so I put the mask on for a joke," said Snarey from the witness box. "He always goes nuts."

He said the main reason for going to the house was that he had heard Mr Goodings had taken an overdose the day before and he wanted to find out if he was OK.

Mr Goodings had helped him a lot with his house renovation and they were on good terms, he said.

On arriving at the house shortly after 5am on October 6, Natasha Hunt let him in and commented about the mask, saying 'You're having a joke,' he said.

"King came down the stairs and he was going mad about the mask.  There was no unpleasantness at all between me and Natasha.

"We were absolutely fine.  The first thing I said to her was 'What's going on with Keith? Is he all right? I'm worried about him.'

"She said he'd taken an overdose and no one knows where he is.

"I thought that was a bit weird. I asked about the money for the car that he owed me and she said she didn't really know what was going on but she would speak to his mother, Audrey, about it."

Asked if he made any threats during the visit he said: "Of course not, nothing at all."

He said Natasha told him she would try to sort it out "within the hour."

As he was about to leave, he said, Cameron came downstairs and was clearly intoxicated.

Cameron asked him if he had any alcohol he could have but he told him had not.

Snarey said Cameron then went back upstairs and he left and went home.

He was wearing latex gloves to continue some work with silicone in his kitchen and then later he recalled Cameron's interest in the starting pistol and decided to take it round to show him at about 8am, he told the court.

He kept the gun under floorboards in the house so says he got it out, put it in a holster and clipped it to his waistband before again donning the mask - to amuse the dog again  -  before walking back to the neighbour's house.

Snarey said he knocked at the door and Natasha appeared at an upstairs window.

"She made some remark about 'Oh, he's back with his f***ig mask on again.'

"I said to her 'Where's Cameron,  does he want to look at this?' and she obviously saw the gun.  She shouted out 'Dean's at the door with his gun.'

"Cameron came down. He tried to open the front door but it is dodgy and he couldn't undo it. He came outside and jumped over the garage roof to see me. He was standing about a metre from me.

"Then he stepped forward closer and I showed him the pistol.  He asked 'Does it work?' and I said yes. He asked me to fire it. I initially thought I shouldn't do it because we were outside but it is legal as it doesn't fire anything, only blanks.

"He stepped back towards the caravan on their drive and he was about one and a half to two metres away from me.

"I pointed the pistol towards the bottom of the front door and let it off. I never put the gun to his head, he was nowhere near me at all.  I didn't threaten him in any way. I had no reason to threaten him."

He denied that he had earlier told Natasha that he would take away the thing 'most precious to her' - her son - if the debt was not paid within the hour.

After demonstrating the gun he put it back in his waistband holster and took the mask off before walking home, he said.

Read more: Neighbour in clown mask 'fired gun at victim's head in row over £800 debt'

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

He settled down for a nap and the next thing he knew the police were knocking at the door and he realised there was a helicopter overhead and armed officers across the road, he added.

"I was arrested. I just didn't know what as going on."

The jury heard that on police interview Snarey made no comment to all questions except to say that the allegations against him were 'all rubbish' and untrue,

Snarey told the jury he gave no comment replies on legal advice.

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.

The trial is expected to end on May 3.