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21
Feb
Harrogate man sentenced after chasing people with a hammer
A Harrogate man has been sentenced after admitting he chased two people with a hammer.
Steven McKenna, of Dene Park, pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon in a public place at Harrogate Magistrates Court yesterday (February 20).
Kaye Barnard, prosecuting, told the court police received a report of a man “chasing two people out of his home address” on Dene Park shortly after 8am on February 6.
A short video of the incident, captured by a resident, was played in court.
Ms Barnard said when police arrived, Mckenna told officers he would show them where the hammer was and pointed to where he had put it.
The 57-year-old defendant was charged with the same offence in 1984, the court heard.
McKenna, who was not legally represented in court, said he had been “having trouble with his motorbike battery” on the morning of the incident.
He told the court:
I got up early to try the bike, but it wouldn’t start. I waited for it to warm up but it still would not start at around 7.55am, so I took the battery out.
I got back to my house and there were, who I know to be, heroin addicts by my door, waiting for a dealer who lives near me. They were smoking a joint.
McKenna told the two people to “go elsewhere”, before the defendant claimed one of the people then threatened to stab him.
He told the court:
He put his hand towards his pocket, and I had to defend myself. I used a tack hammer to defend myself. It was not offensive, it was defensive.
They were two grown men - I wanted them away from my property. I had the hammer in my hand, by my side.
McKenna told the court he then “messed up”; the two people ran away and he chased them for about 15 feet.
One of the people threatened to kill McKenna with a light fitting, the defendant said.
McKenna told the people to go away once more, before the police turned up at his house shortly after.
“I admitted guilt to the police, I told them where the hammer was and I have admitted guilty today”, the court heard.
Defendant ‘lost emotional control’
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Andrew Watson, a probation officer, told the court McKenna said there are “ongoing issues regarding anti-social behaviour in the area”.
Mr Watson said the defendant, who works long hours as a heavy equipment operator, accepts he can be “easily wound up”. McKenna has been able to manage this more effectively as he has got older, but he “lost emotional control” on the day of the offence.
Mr Watson added:
He accepts he dealt with it wrong and should have contacted the police or the council.
The defendant says he felt threatened, but he is remorseful and says he will learn. He says he is determined not to come before the court again.
Mr Watson said McKenna did not cite any mental health issues.
The magistrates ordered McKenna to pay a £1,280 fine, a £512 surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs.
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