WATCH: Heart-stopping moment police officer feared death after 19-year-old pulled a gun on her

Pc Jemma Follows was responding to a report of a burglary when confronted in the dark by 19-year-old Reece Lones.

The officer shouted at Lones asking what he was doing but the teenager pulled out the gun, which later turned out to be an imitation, while Pc Follows was armed with a taser.

The police constable heard a 'click' and admitted she thought she was going to die and her two young children would be without their mother.

Watch Lones pull a gun on Pc Follows:

Pc Follows can be heard clearly shouting on her radio 'Oscar 91 they're in the house and they've got a gun' as she ran outside and jumped into a nearby taxi to hunt Lones down.

Lones had fled out the back of the house in Park Street, Stourbridge, and was detained in a nearby road soon afterwards by armed officers.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard he had been armed with an imitation handgun which an expert said, without close inspection, would have looked like a real firearm.

It was found dumped in the house from which the defendant ran away.

The property is owned by his mother and was not occupied at the time.

He had 'issues' with his father and, on November 5, she agreed to let her son live there for a short time on condition he did not smoke inside.

Ten days later she asked him to leave after discovering this rule had been broken.

Lones, who did not have a key and had nowhere else to stay, got back inside through a damaged skylight on November 18, activating a fire alarm he did not know had been installed, and police were called at 10pm.

Pc Follows - an officer with eight years experience - recalled: "When I initially saw the gun I was completely shocked as, in my whole career, I have never encountered a firearm on the streets.

"I had a second or two where I saw the gun before the individual, whom I now know as Lones, held it towards me and pointed it at me. I heard a 'click.'

"I believed there was a realistic chance I would be shot. I was scared. I have two very young children and believed for a moment that I might not see them again.

"Lones then turned and went into a room out of my sight. I hesitated for a second before I turned and ran to make sure that he wasn't going to come back out again whilst my back was turned.

"I had to leave the address quickly and I was expecting to hear a bang as I turned to run. I quickly shouted what had happened over my radio as I was scared for my colleague who was at the rear of the property."

Pc Follows continued: "Since this incident I have experienced a range of emotions. I have attended similar incidents and been very apprehensive about what I might encounter. I have lost some confidence when dealing with such calls.

"I specifically recall a burglary at a business premises a week or two after this incident where I was alone in a room when I encountered two burglars and began fearing serious harm would be done to me.

"I have suffered several sleepless nights since the incident where I have replayed different outcomes in my head and spent a lot of time dwelling on what could have happened.

"My family have been more concerned about me when I go to work and I know my parents have also suffered distress following the incident."

Mr Shiva Misra, defending Lones, who had two previous convictions for criminal damage, conceded: "He was in drink and was foolish in the extreme.

"Goodness knows why he had the gun but he understands how scared and fearful the officer was. It was an unloaded BB gun but he understands she did not know if it was real or not.

"He was moving his arms while holding the gun and at some stage would have pointed it at her."

Forgiveness

The defendant's mother - now divorced from his father - is living at the house where the incident happened and prepared to let her son stay with her.

She explained: "I know he has behaved badly buti have forgiven him. He is my son and I want to support him."

Lones, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intention to cause fear and was given two years three months detention in a Young Offenders Institution.

Judge Amjad Nawaz told him: "The gun had the appearance of a real weapon. You used it as such and the person at which it was pointed believed it was a real weapon."