March 19, 2018 1.04 pm This story is over 72 months old

Teen shot man in the face in Lincoln McDonald’s car park

He fired ten shots from an air powered handgun.

The McDonald's at Carlton Centre in Lincoln. Photo: Google Street View

A teenager who shot a man in the face in a McDonald’s car park in Lincoln was today sentenced to three years and ten months in a young offenders institution.

Kirk Bristow fired ten shots from the gas powered ball bearing handgun after a couple intervened to stop him assaulting a 17-year-old girl.

Police cordoned off the drive-thru of the fast food restaurant on the Carlton Centre, off Wragby Road, after the incident which happened at 2.20am on Saturday, December 23 last year.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Paige Taylor, 20, was head-butted by Bristow after she saw him assaulting the teenage girl and went to help her.

Phil Howes, prosecuting, said Ms Taylor’s boyfriend, Luis Dobson, 21, became involved in a scuffle with Bristow who pulled what looked like a black hand gun from his bag.

The court heard Mr Dobson was initially aware of three shots and ran off towards a Lidl store.

Mr Howes said Bristow fired ten shots from the weapon in the total, and Mr Dobson attended hospital with a superficial graze near his nose and puncture wound to the top of his head.

Ms Taylor was also treated for an injury to her nose which caused lots of blood but no permanent damage.

Bristow was seen to drive away on an off-road motorbike and jumped two red lights before he crashed it on nearby Scott Gardens.

The court heard Bristow was disruptive during his arrest and also assaulted a Special Constable. The gun was found the next morning by a member of the public in Chaucer Gardens.

Mr Howes said the handgun had been examined by experts and qualified as a firearm.

During interview Bristow admitted he had consumed a mix of vodka and valium after an incident on a bus and could remember nothing about what happened at the Carlton Centre.

In her victim impact statement Ms Taylor said she had suffered constant pain from her nose and was unable to sleep.

She said: “Every time I close my eyes I hear gun shots and Kirk’s voice.”

Mr Dobson added: “I just wanted to make sure Paige was ok. I thought the gun was real.”

Bristow, also known as Kirk Davies, of Keats Close, Lincoln, admitted possessing a gas-powered firearm and ten other offences.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of assault by beating, two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, one charge of common assault, two offences of jumping a red light, having no insurance and possession of cannabis.

David Eager, mitigating, told the court Bristow had turned 20 since the incident and suffers from both Asperger’s and ADHD.

Mr Eager said the handgun was not a lethal barrelled or prohibited weapon, and Mr Bristow had no memory of what he did.

Passing sentence Judge Andrew Easteal told Bristow that bottom line was that he pulled out a handgun in a McDonald’s car park.

The judge said: “This all began and unfolded in front of a McDonald’s that was open.

“Ms Taylor very bravely decided that she could not stand by.

“Despite the best efforts of her partner you reached in to your bag and pulled out a handgun.

“A ball bearing gun can still do terrible harm and cause life changing injuries.”