A MAN threatened to shoot several children with an air rifle after appearing from bushes by some playing fields in Brymbo.

The children, all under the age of 13, were playing football on the pitches by Brymbo Pool on the afternoon of May 25 this year, when they were interrupted by Adam John Millington, who appeared wearing a hi-vis jacket, carrying the gun, which at the time was in a black and red carry case.

A couple of the children had climbed on top of a shipping container, which is used for storage and changing facilities, to retrieve a football when it is alleged Millington pointed the case in their direction and threatened to shoot them if they didn’t get down. One of the witnesses, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court how the gun then fell out of the tilted case as he was pointing it up at them, with a tin of pellets also dropping to the floor.

Despite making threats to shoot them, Millington, 27, of Church Street in Rhostellyn, then tried to re-assure them, saying that he wasn’t going to hurt them and the gun, a .22 calibre Gamo Whisper air rifle, wasn’t actually real. However, just minutes later, Millington ordered some of the children to take penalties and told them that if they didn’t put the ball into the top corner of the goal, he would shoot them. One girl said how Millington pointed the gun towards her head and when another one of her friends subsequently took a shot and missed, asked her if he should shoot them, to which she replied “no because he’s my mate”.

After the threatening the children with the gun during the game of football, during which it was alleged Millington fell over several times, appearing to be under the influence of alcohol, he then forced a couple of the children to use the gun, firing pellets towards the crossbar. One of the girls said how Millington helped her hold and aim the gun and it was alleged during this incident that Millington had his arm around the waist and hips of one of the girls and also touched her bottom. Millington was told to stop and that he was “being weird” but that he did something very similar to her friend, who told the court how he had pulled the trigger as she held the rifle.

Prosecuting barrister John Phillpots, went on to say how the children then began to walk to another part of the playing fields, to go and meet another one of their friends, but how Millington followed them, still carrying the gun. When they met their friend, he was on his mobile phone and Millington told him to put it down and demanded he hand it over to him up to three times, to which the boy replied no. The boy went on to say that “I thought I was going to die” as Millington threatened to shoot him if he didn’t give him the phone. As Millington raised the gun towards the child’s head, he began to run away, saying he was in fear of his life.

As the other children began to walk away in the direction of the main road, Millington again followed them, and according to one of the girls, started to act very strangely, asking her “am I sound?” He made two of the children climb down into a tunnel placing his arm around the shoulder of one girl.

Millington denies all seven of the charges, four for possessing a firearm with the intent to cause fear of violence, two for sexually assaulting a child and one of attempted robbery.

The trial continues.