Angry man carried pick axe handle through Hucknall

An angry man must do 70 hours community work after walking through Hucknall at night while carrying a pick axe handle.
Pick axe handle pictured, which was used in another crime.Pick axe handle pictured, which was used in another crime.
Pick axe handle pictured, which was used in another crime.

Martyn Bailey, 34, had a dispute with the new man in the life of a former partner and wanted to "sort it out," a court heard.

He was also given an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates' Court.

He admitted having an offensive weapon - a pick axe handle - on Annesley Road, Hucknall shortly after midnight on January 21.

Pick axe handle pictured, which was used in another crime.Pick axe handle pictured, which was used in another crime.
Pick axe handle pictured, which was used in another crime.

District Judge Leo Pyle said: "What aggravates it is that you have got a previous conviction for violence and you were highly angry over what happened beforehand.

"You go marching around with a pick axe handle," he told Bailey, 34, of Washdyke Lane, Hucknall.

The weapon must be destroyed while Bailey has to pay a £115 government surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

Neil Hollett, prosecuting, said that police were alerted about a man out on the streets with the weapon. He was soon found.

"He said that he had an argument with his ex-partner's current partner and named him.

"He said that he had received a call from the current partner 'calling him out' and he was on his way to sort it out," said Mr Hollett. There was no complaint to police officers from the other man involved in the argument.

Ran Johal, mitigating, described the offence as "completely out of character."

He told the judge: "He accepts full responsibility. Often these matters can be dragged out but he does not seek to do that.

"He is quite frank with the police and said that he acted stupidly on the day in question.

"Fortunately he has not used the weapon, threatened or caused harm. But there was a potential risk and he appreciates how severely these offences are treated by these courts."

He said that Bailey is a hard-working man who sometimes does not take a day off weekly. The judge ordered the destruction of the axe handle.