Yahoo News Man armed himself with metal wrench during 'kerfuffle' outside Hull house
Things turned nasty during a tense confrontation outside a house when an aggressive troublemaker armed himself with a metal wrench and brandished it above his head after a history of bad blood between him and some other people.
Threats were made during the bad-tempered "kerfuffle" but he "completely over-reacted" to the others turning up outside his house and went inside to grab the weapon, Hull Crown Court heard.
Christopher Owen, 39, of Wansbeck Road, Longhill estate, Hull, admitted possessing an offensive weapon on March 10. He also admitted two offences of burglary on January 31 and February 3.
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Amber Hobson, prosecuting, said that Owen returned to his house at about 7pm after an earlier incident involving other people and he armed himself with a metal wrench. At one point, he took his shirt off.
A group of other people, including a woman and her son, gathered outside and Owen made threats to them. He was in the street with the wrench for about seven minutes and he was shown on CCTV pictures waving the weapon above his head.
Owen did not actually use the wrench. "No injuries were caused to anybody," said Miss Hobson. During police interview, Owen claimed that he was defending himself from other people.
"He denied having or handling the wrench," said Miss Hobson. He claimed that he locked himself in his rear yard.
Owen also twice burgled the Asda Bilton store in Main Road, Bilton, Hull, and stole TVs. On the first occasion, he went through a gate into the rear yard at 2.25am and stole four TVs, valued at £896, from a warehouse.
He did the same in the early morning on the second occasion and stole two TVs, valued at £528. He made no comment to all questions during police interview.
Owen had convictions for nine previous offences, most recently last year. He was in breach of a nine-week suspended prison sentence imposed for breaching a non-molestation order.
Stephen Robinson, mitigating, said that Owen accepted that he over-reacted during the "kerfuffle" outside the house and went out, armed with the metal wrench as a weapon, when a woman and her son arrived.
"There is a background here," said Mr Robinson.
Owen had made some progress under the terms of the suspended sentence and there were 45 absences for probation service appointments that had been deemed to be acceptable.
He had no previous convictions for burglary or possessing an offensive weapon and he was out of trouble between 2008 and last year. "That's because he was working," said Mr Robinson. Owen had worked at the time as a building site labourer and self-employed plasterer.
Judge John Thackray KC said of the weapon incident: "You were met with a difficult situation but you completely over-reacted and went outside armed with a wrench. No doubt it was extremely unpleasant for those who were involved.
"Whatever the background can't in any way justify your behaviour. The burglaries are serious offences, taking place, as they did, during the early hours. They obviously involved some planning and significant goods being stolen.
"Your risk can't be managed in the community and you can't be rehabilitated. You have had a chance and you have committed these serious offences. Only appropriate punishment can be achieved by way of an immediate custodial sentence."
Owen was jailed for 15 months and he was given a five-year restraining order.
