A VISUALLY impaired woman was left terrified after discovering yobs had shot at her living room window during the night.
Leah Prescott, 31, awoke on September 6 to find the bay window in her property in Rayne Road, Braintree, had shattered as a result of the impact of a BB gun or air rifle pellet fired while she and her partner slept.
It left the administrative assistant "frightened" that, just hours earlier, she had sat in the direct trajectory of the weapon.
"That day I got up at about 7.30am but, as I am severely visually impaired, it wasn't until 9.30am when my partner Tom came downstairs, that he pointed out the window. It was blatantly obvious the window had been shot at," Leah told the Chronicle.
"He opened the front door and the entire pane of glass was shattered. He picked up something very small that had landed on the windowsill just after the hole it had gone through."
Leah then contacted her father, who had previously worked in the firearms industry, and who believed the pellet closely resembled that fired from a BB gun.
The incident has prompted a renewed warning from Essex Police that those carrying imitation weapons could face being confronted with the same armed police used to respond to calls regarding possession of 'real' guns.
Chief Inspector Glen Pavelin, of operational police command, said: "People are increasingly aware of the potential for firearms in our midst and, quite rightly, call us whenever they see something resembling a gun. Whether this gun is an air weapon, BB gun or genuine firearm, our response is the same.
"BB guns are made to be identical to real guns in colour, size and detailed appearance. While they are capable of firing only small plastic ball bearings, their resemblance to a real firearm will prompt calls to the police and officers must respond to every incident with the assumption the weapon is real.
"Essex Police have an obligation to protect the public from harm whilst maintaining the safety of our officers. We will always assess intelligence and information and decide on the most appropriate response."
Leah, who has only very minimal vision, believes the shots could have come from a passing car firing randomly, or aiming at bins in the street, but knows had the incident taken place just hours earlier the outcome could have been so much worse.
She added: "I'm visually impaired and it really, really frightened me that the trajectory where the pellet came through would have hit me had I been in the living room, my head would have been level with it. It just frightened the life out of me."
Police say they are continuing to investigate the incident, which caused around £150 worth of damage.
Chief Inspector Pavelin added: "While they are legal to own, people must ask themselves whether it's really appropriate to have these guns.
"If they do, they must learn to use them responsibly."
