John Bellamy, who was terminally ill with cancer, armed himself with a gun and toured the streets of Durham in search of a suitable target.

The 50-year-old had earlier told friends: “I’m going to take out a copper before I die.”

Relatives were said to have been subjected to a terrifying car journey through the city of Durham as Bellamy, a petty criminal, sought to settle old scores with police and members of his family.

Calls from worried members of the public led to the mounting of a major security operation. Bellamy was eventually surrounded in his home village of Brandon, near Durham, and surrendered after a tense stand-off. He died in prison less than four weeks later.

Details of the dying man’s mission to kill were revealed at Newcastle Crown Court, where charges against Bellamy were formally dropped this week.

At an earlier hearing before Peterlee magistrates, he had been charged with possessing a firearm and making threats to kill.

The court was told that Bellamy had terminal cancer diagnosed and was told by specialists at the University Hospital of North Durham that he had only weeks to live.

He had been estranged from his family, but the news of his imminent death led to a reconciliation with his brother, David Bellamy, and David Coates, a distant relative.

The court was told that during one of their trips to the hospital, Bellamy produced a black ski mask from the locker at his bedside.

He put the mask over his head, clasped his hands to make the shape of a gun and told his visitors: “Boom, boom. I’m going to take out a copper before I die.”

In late June, Bellamy discharged himself from the hospital and was driven by his brother and Mr Coates to his sister’s house. There, he collected a bag which he took to the car.

Mr Coates, thought to be in his forties, later told the police that as the car set off, Bellamy removed several pieces of metal from the bag and began to assemble a handgun. He also produced cartridges. Magistrates heard that when Mr Coates opened a can of beer, Bellamy became enraged and struck him three times in the face with the butt of the gun. He then placed the barrel against his neck and said: “I’m going to take you out.”

Bellamy, who was said to have had a lifelong fascination with guns, eventually climbed out of the car near a supermarket in Brandon and began to roam the streets. During the next 40 minutes, police received several emergency calls from members of the public who reported seeing a man brandishing a gun.

Bellamy was eventually arrested after the deployment of a police helicopter and several armed response units. His gun was never found.

The would-be police killer was later charged and remanded to Holme House Prison in Stockton-on-Tees, where he died last month.

John Grierson, a defence solicitor, had applied for his client to be released on bail, telling the court that doctors believed that Bellamy could die at any time.

He was denied bail after Janet Mason, for the prosecution, told magistrates that he posed a serious danger to the public.

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