Man 'threatened to kill woman with chainsaw before setting himself alight'

A man allegedly threatened to kill a woman with a chainsaw before setting himself on fire, police have said.

Police said the man made the threats before “setting himself alight” at a home in Hartlepool, Durham, on Saturday evening.

Armed officers were called to Campbell Road after reports of a domestic incident.

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The force said the occupant made serious threats to kill a woman in the property, who was left uninjured, before he sustained serious self-inflicted burns.

A spokesperson from Cleveland Police said: “Police were called to an address in Hartlepool at around 7.20pm on Saturday to reports of a domestic incident in which a man with a chainsaw was making serious threats to kill another person in the property and harm himself.

“Officers attended the scene and spoke to the man, who continued to make threats to harm himself, and during the incident he sustained self-inflicted serious burn injuries.”

The force said trained firearms officers discharged an attenuating energy projectile (AEP), also known as a baton round, to bring the incident to a conclusion.

“The man was arrested in connection with the incident and taken to hospital due to serious burns,” the spokesperson said.

One neighbour told Teesside Live: "It started about 7pm last night, first I knew of it was a load of blue lights.

"The police vans were lined up along the road and the fire engines turned up.

"Then the armed police came up the road and went into the house."

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Another added: "Neighbours were told by the emergency services to close our curtains and turn the lights off".

A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said, "We were called to a private address on Campbell Road in Hartlepool around 8.22pm last night.

"We sent an ambulance and took one patient to hospital.”

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