A DISGRUNTLED customer was so "peed off" with a "crap" sweet and sour pork dish that he returned to the Chinese restaurant and held a loaded gun to the cook's head.
David Brian Shinner had paid for a takeaway dinner from the Branxton shop on the evening of October 30, 2022, but became angry and emotional when he discovered one of his meals didn't live up to his expectation.
"All I got were some pork balls in a paper bag and some sauce in a little cup," he told police when he was arrested for threatening to shoot the Chinese restaurant owner.
"I was just peed off because I paid all that money and got crap ... I wanted a decent meal ... the fried rice was alright."
Shinner was sentenced in Newcastle District Court on Friday to three-and-a-half years behind bars, after pleading guilty to charges of using an offensive weapon with the intent to commit an indictable offence and possessing an unauthorised pistol.
Possessing ammunition without authority was taken into account.
The 62-year-old was handed a non-parole period of two years and one month, and after time already served, will become eligible for release in November this year.
Judge Troy Anderson earlier heard evidence from the owners of the Chinese restaurant, Danny and Jane Yam, and another customer.
There was a "crappy meal", a gun, a threat to shoot and a scuffle involved in the "completely mad" ordeal, but Judge Anderson had to determine what exactly had unfolded inside the shop and kitchen that night after a dispute arose between the Crown and defence.
Did Shinner burst through the bi-fold doors into the kitchen and hold the gun to Mr Yam's head as he cooked, or had he aimed it from the counter about 1.8 metres away? Did Mr Yam send Shinner "flying through the air like Bruce Lee" out the bi-fold doors with a kick before tackling him to the ground?
Judge Anderson told the court he had found beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Yam was telling the truth - Shinner had entered the kitchen and held the shortened pistol "very close" to the side of Mr Yam's forehead while demanding he re-make the sweet and sour pork, before Mr Yam pushed it away.
Judge Anderson said Mr Yam had no reason to exaggerate what happened because he had been justified in punching Shinner and tackling him to the ground outside the kitchen, causing him to bleed and claim he couldn't breathe.
Mrs Yam told Mr Yam to let Shinner go and he ran from the Branxton restaurant, losing his shoes as he fled with Mr Yam in pursuit.
Police came knocking on Shinner's nearby motorhome about 5pm the next day and Shinner was arrested, and has remained behind bars since.
"I knew you guys were coming," he told the officers at the time.
Shinner told a psychologist - who prepared a report for his sentencing proceedings - that he wished he had not done something so stupid and wasn't sure why he had.
He penned a letter of apology to the court.
The court heard Shinner struggled with several health conditions which made custody more onerous, had a troubled background and had been off his mental health medication for months at the time of the offending.
Judge Anderson said Shinner had been a law-abiding citizen for decades and had good prospects of rehabilitation.
He found special circumstances in the case, but said the offending was serious.
"The carrying of a loaded, shortened firearm, was extremely dangerous," Judge Anderson said.
