AN alcohol-fuelled party could lead to a prison sentence for a man who borrowed his father's gun.

Worcester Magistrates Court heard how Johnathan Stone hosted a barbecue at his father's home near Pershore, when he and his friends decided to go rabbiting.

In the early hours of the morning of Tuesday, July 5, the 20-year-old took his father's rifle and fired at candles in the garden.

At about 4am a guest, who did not have a driving licence, attempted to drive the group to a field to hunt rabbits, with Stone's father's pump action shotgun.

After taking a wrong turn, they arrived in a residential area called The Railground, Pershore, before the car broke down.

After temporarily fixing it Stone, whose father was away on holiday, drove a short distance before it broke down again.

On Monday, Kriss Ewing, prosecuting said that a worried resident called the police to report four males firing shots into the air. It's a very serious matter," she said.

"They were in a group, in the early hours of the morning, brandishing a shot loaded shotgun in a residential area."

When police officers arrived, Stone, of High Green Farm, Kington, Flyford Flavell, refused to provide a specimen to assess alcohol consumption.

He pleaded guilty to having a loaded firearm and ammunition in public, possessing a shotgun without a certificate, having a rifle without holding a firearms certificate and failing to provide a specimen.

Chris Hilton, defending said that Stone's life had been blighted by the offences after he was disqualified from driving.

He added that Stone had not known his friend did not have a driving licence.

"He is familiar with fire arms and has his own licence and certificate," he said.

He added that although residents heard cracking noises, there was no evidence that the gun was discharged.

The case was adjourned to Thursday, September 28 for a pre-sentence report.