KIRK DAVIES, who was shot by armed police officers late last night, had a long-held fascination with weapons and the military.

A court dealing with his appeal over an earlier confrontation heard that from a young age he had been regaled with stories of daring deeds, courage and chivalry in the SAS, told by his father, Tony.

As a boy he vowed he too would follow the life of a soldier and he joined the Duke of Wellington's Regiment when he was 19.

York Crown Court heard how Davies saw action in Northern Ireland, and was later posted to Canada and the Falkland Islands.

But he became restless at the lack of excitement, and later deserted.

A civil war was in full swing in the former Yugoslavia, and Davies saw the opportunity to take part in the action he so badly craved.

The court heard he joined an elite Croatian Army special forces unit as a sniper and was soon credited with notching up 46 Serb kills.

The young mercenary believed he had not only lived up to the example set by his father, but surpassed it.

But then his world fell apart when he returned home to visit his family for Christmas in 1996.

The court was told how his mother broke the news that his father's tales of life behind the lines were made up; she said he had never been in Cambodia, had never been wounded in action, but had in fact been a truck driver with the Royal Corps of Transport during his military service.

Davies' barrister, Robert Collins, said the revelation that his father was not a real-life hero had a "devastating effect" on the Selby man.

He kitted himself out in full Croatian uniform, grabbed a knife and a steel poker and went to pay his father a visit at his home in Brayton.

He went berserk, smashing up his father's car with the poker and confronting the man he felt had so badly let him down. Speaking in fluent Croatian, he came face to face with his father.

When the police arrived, Davies remained aggressive and had to be overpowered with CS spray before being handcuffed.

He was given a nine-month prison sentence for affray and possessing an offensive weapon, but this was reduced to two years probation at the appeal.

Mr Collins said Davies had found the lack of action in the British Army "unsatisfactory".

"He did not fulfil the destiny put on him by his father's stories, so he deserted," he said.

But the Croatian Special Forces provided him with all the action he could hope for.

"He had credited to him 46 Serb kills," said Mr Collins. "He can still see their faces and although he is coy about it, he says he is now terrified of babies, having seen so many of them dead."

He said that Davies needed "supervision and advice", rather than a prison sentence.

The judge at the appeal, Recorder Aidan Marron, QC, told Davies: "There is a need to address your problem and we wish you well."

Davies' former partner, Kathryn Wadsworth, of Main Road, Burn, told the Evening Press today that Davies "was shot for carrying an air rifle".

Davies, who had a son, Joshua, two, was a regular player in a local pub pool team.