A MAN fighting for the return of his 400 guns compared his court appeal to living under the East German secret police.

Martin Young told Oxford Crown Court yesterday: “This is like East Germans recalling their life under the Stasi”.

Asked whether he was comparing his cross-examination to such a time, the 67-year-old replied: “No, this process, in deeming me unsuitable (for a shotgun licence) simply on the basis of very carefully selected parts from large documents where my robust turn of phrase has gone too far.”

Mr Young, who has had a long-running dispute with the city council over his rundown house in Headington’s Old High Street, is appealing against Thames Valley Police’s decision not to return his shotgun licence.

That was taken away in 2008 when police seized 400 antique weapons from him after he told council officer Melanie Mutch over the phone: “I am armed, blood will be spilt”.

In a letter written to Ms Mutch by Mr Young that same year, he said: “I fear I might very easily lose control and inflict a violent assault on you.”

Mr Young said he would never have acted on the threat. Recorder Richard Hamlin will deliver his verdict in writing at a later date.