A DRUNKEN masked man terrified a mother and daughter at their Westhoughton home before stealing a shotgun and threatening to kill them, a court heard.

Gerald O'Boyle went on the rampage after drinking a bottle of vodka, several cans of lager and taking 10 diazepam tablets, following a row over money with his girlfriend.

Yesterday, O'Boyle aged 35, of Norton Grove, Nut Grove, St Helens, was jailed for seven years at Bolton Crown Court on four counts of possessing a firearm, two robbery charges, aggravated vehicle taking and taking a conveyance without the consent of the owner in incidents in Westhoughton and Bolton.

Judge John Roberts said his victims must have been terrified when they saw him approaching with the shotgun.

Prosecutor Mark Lamberty told how after the row with his girlfriend, O'Boyle went to the Westhoughton home of Carol and Jacqueline Dyke, who from their kitchen window saw him striding up the drive pulling on a balaclava.

Seconds later he burst into the kitchen and demanded a gun. The women finally found a shotgun upstairs and gave it to O'Boyle who threatened to kill them if they called the police.

O'Boyle then went 200 yards down the road to the home of Roger Warwick, in Fall Birch Road, where he demanded the keys to his car parked on the drive.

He took the vehicle and then crashed into a car driven by Vivian Fisher, who was accompanied by her daughters Caroline aged 14 and 19-year-old Lisa who were in the back seat. Lisa's nine-week old son was in a baby seat in the front of the car.

Both drivers were trapped inside their cars and William Peak, who was driving behind Mrs Fisher, went to their aid but backed off when he saw the shotgun.

Mrs Peak and her daughters were hysterical because they were worried about the baby in the front seat. All were taken to hospital later and treated for shock and whiplash injuries.

O'Boyle freed himself from the car and hijacked Mr Peak's car at gunpoint but failed to get it moving and then moved to the car behind driven by Steve Tate and ordered him out of the car and drove off.

By this time several people had called the police and 20 minutes later O'Boyle was spotted by a patrol car in Westhoughton. He was followed at a distance and was seen to abandon the car.

He threw the shotgun on the roof of an outbuilding near the Broadwalk restaurant and the two police officers tackled him and subdued him after a brief struggle.

Defending, Michael Murray said all the incidents took place within just an hour and that he just snapped after a row with his girlfriend.

He went out to get the shotgun, not to commit a robbery but to take it home to his girlfriend to show he that he had a gun and could go and get some money. Then gun had never been loaded.

He said that O'Boyle accepted that his actions had terrified all the people involved and expressed genuine remorse for his conduct.

He said the combination of the vodka and diazepam tablets had clouded his judgement and made him vulnerable to taking impulsive actions.