A MAN who pointed a shotgun in the face of a charity collector who knocked at his door slipped 25p in her tin when he realised his mistake.

David Holmes wasn’t expecting any callers. But pointing his shotgun at the NSPCC collector landed the 31-year-old in the dock at Oxford Crown Court and an 18-month prison sentence.

Holmes, of Naldertown, in Wantage, admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and without a firearms certificate.

The 31-year-old answered his door at around 6pm on September 26 last year and pointed a 12-gauge shotgun in the face of charity worker Catherine Mann.

Graham Bennett, defending, said his client admitted the crime but was suffering from depression and alcohol dependency and couldn’t remember anything about it.

He added: “The gun was last used by his grandfather and there was no ammunition found with it. He is not a man who leads a confrontational or violent life at all.”

Judge Gordon Risius jailed Holmes for 18 months and ordered the gun be destroyed.