There has been countless media stories from Gateshead claiming that two brothers decided to take it upon themselves to open fire with an air pistol on a lettings agency.

canstockphoto.com

The two brothers felt hard done by after being told they were being evicted for non payment of rent and decided to seek their form of retribution.

They were jointly prosecuted by Newcastle Crown Court which was told how the brothers attacked the agent’s car using their air pistol.

Brothers Joshua and Brendan Maas, three hours after receiving a notice telling them of their oncoming eviction, fired seven pellets through one of the agency’s windows horrifying passers-by; fortunately the agency staff were not in the premises.

Not content with this the pair then proceeded to carry out an attack on the agency’s car two miles away which shattered the passenger’s side windows, the rear window and left a hole in the bodywork.

All in all the damage to the premises and the car came to a total of more than £5,000.

It was in September 2018 that the attack took place and it has taken this long for the case to appear in court.

The pair’s long list of previous convictions was read out in court.

Judge Tim Gittins told the brothers: "There were other members of the public nearby, completely innocent members of the public who saw somebody shooting what they thought was a genuine pistol repeatedly towards that window.

"Your principle aim was to cause damage to the shop in some form of revenge to scare the estate agents when they found out about it, but you caused the passers-by considerable concern and alarm even if you didn't intend to.

"You terrified passers-by and led to shop staff fearing something else would happen in the days that followed."

Joshua was banned from driving for two years and received a sentence of 12 months but will be released on remand after five months. His brother Brandon was handed a nine months’ sentence suspended for eighteen months and slapped with a curfew of between 9pm and 7am.