Roofer threatened family with golf club after road rage incident with horse
A self-employed roofer threatened a family with a golf club following a road rage incident near Nottingham. Nottingham Crown Court heard how father-of-two Daniel Clay told the main victim - a pensioner in his 60s - ‘you are lucky you are old or your teeth will be in the field’ during the altercation near Calverton.
The 33-year-old had earlier been involved in an incident whereby a car had been driven close to the family’s horse as one of them rode it on an unmarked road. Following that, the defendant’s wife made an accusation she had been assaulted and he arrived armed with the weapon and made the threats.
Handing him a 12-month community order, Recorder James Bide-Thomas said: “This incident arose, in reality, out of what in retrospect might be regarded as a fairly trivial matter when people lost their tempers on the road. You approached (the victim) holding a golf club and became aggressive towards him and accused him of assaulting your wife.
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“His wife tried to stand between you and her husband but the incident did not stop there. The family continued to walk and you made threats including saying ‘you are lucky you are old or your teeth will be in the field’ and that you were going to break his jaw.
“You also threatened to break his horse’s leg and he later told how he was terrified that you wanted to give him a beating saying he thought you were ‘on the edge of reason’. But you made full admissions and you were plainly remorseful at the time of the incident.
“You admitted you overreacted and it is clear you lost your temper and that you regret that.”
Naeem Valli, prosecuting, said the incident took place in the countryside during the late morning of September 2, 2023. He said the family were together - one of them on horseback and the others walking down the road - when a car being driven by the defendant’s wife drove closely to the horse ride and then away.
The prosecutor said: “Twenty minutes after this road rage incident the defendant arrived and approached the father and the family holding a golf club with two hands raising it and swinging it. The victim’s wife got between them and the defendant then made threats saying to his son ‘I am going to get your dad,’ ‘someone is going to get hurt’ and then to the victim ‘ you are lucky you are old or your teeth will be in the field’.
“He then said he would ‘smash his head in’ and that he was going to break his jaw and break the horse’s leg.”
Clay, of Labray Road, Calverton, pleaded guilty to affray and has one single previous conviction for a public order offence from 2011. Lauren Manuel, mitigating, said her client is a self-employed roofer who has five staff working for him and has children aged five and two.
She said: “He accepts he had heightened emotions and behaved in the way that he did. His remorse is genuine and true and he immediately recognised the seriousness of what he did.
“The incident was borne out of a particular set of circumstances whereby he received a call from his partner saying she had been the victim (of an assault) and he immediately went to the scene.”
As part of the community order, the judge ordered Clay to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and to attend 10 rehabilitation sessions with the probation service. He also ordered him to pay £250 towards the prosecution costs.