Two men who staged a fight in a layby for TikTok viewers have been spared prison despite one of them brandishing a machete in front of onlookers.

William Fuller-McMillan and Rivers Wilson, both 22 and from Ripon and Knaresborough respectively, were armed with weapons when they turned up for the pre-arranged fight near Ripon racecourse, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Lewis Kerr said it appeared the fight had been arranged between Wilson and another named man following an “issue” with a young woman.

The fight was set for a layby on Boroughbridge Road, Ripon, on December 17, 2021, when people turned up in several cars “armed with weapons” in the dark hours to witness the shocking scenes.

Mr Kerr said videos of the fight were circulated on the internet as it was happening, and witnesses called police.

Onlookers who witnessed the “prolonged” dust-up said it was initially a “fair fight, one-on-one”, between Wilson and his rival, with punches being thrown by each man.

But then Wilson “took the upper hand, kicking (the other man) several times” and there was kneeing during the fight, along with “grappling and grabbing”, causing injuries ostensibly to both men.

The court heard that at some points during the skirmishing, someone drove a dark Mercedes at people at the scene.

Mr Kerr said that by the time the fight ended, Wilson appeared to be holding a baseball bat, although he was never charged with this.

Fuller-McMillan then brandished a machete and threatened another man with the weapon.

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• Ripon man appears in court charged with attempted murder

Mr Kerr said although the knife wasn’t actually used, there was the “potential for serious disorder”.

He said the entire incident was a “staged fight on TikTok”.

Wilson, of Princess Close, Ripon, was arrested and initially charged with affray. He denied the allegation and was due to face trial on Tuesday, January 3, but admitted an alternative charge under the Public Order Act before a jury was sworn in.

Fuller-McMillan, of Stockwell Drive, Knaresborough, admitted using a bladed article to threaten. The two men appeared for sentence on Wednesday.

Previous convictions

The court heard Fuller-McMillan had a previous conviction for threatening to damage property. He was convicted of that offence in June last year and received a community order.

Wilson had four previous convictions for 12 offences, the last of which in 2019 resulted in a 22-month jail sentence in February 2020.

Barrister Patrick Palmer, for Wilson, said his client earned good money in construction and had stayed out of trouble since the incident in Ripon.

Nicholas Hammond, for Fuller-McMillan, said his client had moved away from Ripon following the incident and had since set up home with his partner and worked full time as a joiner.

He said Fuller-McMillan was at the scene to support his friend Wilson and his actions were down to a “lack of maturity”.

Judge Simon Hickey described the staged fight in Ripon as a “disgraceful incident”.

He told the defendants:

“In the darkness, you all decided you were going to have a fight. You all attended in several motor cars armed with weapons.

“Any member of the public going past would have been very upset and perturbed by what then occurred.”

Fuller-McMillan was given a 22-month prison sentence, but this was suspended for 18 months because of his “impressive” character references and the fact that he had stayed out of trouble since the incident. As part of the order, he must complete 150 hours’ unpaid work.

The judge told Wilson that although he had been involved in a “nasty piece of violence”, he was “impressed that you and your co-accused are both working and keeping out of trouble”.

Wilson was fined £500 for the public-order offence and ordered to pay a statutory surcharge. Both men were ordered to pay £185 prosecution costs.

A solicitor who rammed his car into his wife’s home in Harrogate and subjected her to “mental torture” has been jailed for breaching a restraining order designed to protect her.

Richard Wade-Smith, 66, was spared jail in September after he admitted harassment causing fear of violence, damaging property and drink-driving.

That followed an unrelenting harassment campaign against his now-former partner which culminated in the incident on Boxing Day 2021 when Wade-Smith, who was drunk, rammed his Nissan Qashqai into his wife’s home in Slingsby Walk. 

On that occasion, Wade-Smith received a three-year community order with a rehabilitation programme and restraining order banning from contacting the victim or going anywhere near her property. 

It was hoped that a non-custodial sentence would enable him to “rebuild his life”, but within four days of it being imposed, he went to his wife’s house and knocked on the door.

Restraining order breach

Barrister Kelly Sherif, who was prosecuting at the initial sentence hearing, said it was about 8.15am on September 19 when Wade-Smith’s wife heard a knock at her door. Wade-Smith walked off but about two hours later he returned, knocked on her door again and called her name.

The named victim went to the door, but Wade-Smith, a former “high-powered” lawyer, walked off again.

A neighbour called police and Wade-Smith was arrested. He was charged with two counts of breaching a restraining order and remanded in custody. 

He admitted the offences and was due to be sentenced in October, but Judge Sean Morris adjourned the case to look into the possibility of new hostel accommodation as an alternative to jail.

York Crown Court.

Wade-Smith, of no fixed address, appeared for sentence at York Crown Court today.

The court heard that under the terms of the restraining order, Wade-Smith was supposed to go straight to Harrogate Borough Council’s offices to seek emergency accommodation following his release from custody in September.

However, Brooke Morrison, prosecuting at today’s adjourned sentence hearing, said there had been a delay in releasing him from custody which meant that when he was freed, the council offices had closed for the day and there was no room for him at any hostels in Harrogate.

He had slept rough on his first night of freedom and failed to get in touch with the council the following day, which meant that his request for hostel accommodation was turned down.

The lawyer slept in an expensive hotel for “one or two nights”, but then got drunk and ended up sleeping on the street.

He claimed that while sleeping rough he had been robbed of his credit cards and woke up in hospital. 

He said that with “nowhere else to go”, he headed for his former marital home. 

Too drunk to get out of car

Wade-Smith, who had worked for various law firms in Yorkshire and latterly ran his own legal service from Wedderburn House, was nearly twice the drink-drive limit when he rammed his car into his wife’s home on Boxing Day.

His wife was woken by a terrible “smashing” noise which she initially thought was an “explosion”. 

Wade-Smith was so drunk that police had to help him out of the car, which was damaged along with the front of the semi-detached home. 

The incident followed months of marital discord in which Wade-Smith falsely accused her of being unfaithful and forced her to flee the house.

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Wade-Smith, a Cambridge law graduate, had been in a relationship with the victim for about 22 years, but in 2021 his behaviour changed after he started drinking again.

He would “disturb (his wife’s) sleep”, waking her in the middle of the night and demanding she “answer questions” of a personal nature, said the prosecution.

In November last year, she started receiving nasty messages on a “daily basis” from Wade-Smith. On one occasion inside the house, he told her: 

“If you don’t go now, I’ll kick you down the stairs.”

Wade-Smith was said to have been suffering from psychosis and “hypermania” after becoming bipolar in middle age. 

Defence barrister Ayman Khokar said that Wade-Smith “wasn’t in his senses” when he went back to the victim’s home and breached the order.

‘Re-triggered trauma’

Judge Morris, the Recorder of York, told Wade-Smith it was his “own fault” that he was now facing a jail sentence. 

He said although it was true that he had only knocked on his wife’s door, it had “re-triggered the whole trauma of the past and that is why it has caused this (victim) very serious distress”.

He added: 

“She is in a bad way because of you, and it is a form of mental torture.”

Wade-Smith was given a 10-month jail sentence, but he will only serve half of that, less the time he had already spent on remand, before being released on prison licence. 

The judge ordered that the restraining order would remain in place indefinitely.

North Yorkshire Police has said the “entirely avoidable” death of a Ripon man caused by an Amazon delivery driver on Snapchat shouold serve as a warning to motorists not to use their phones.

Daniaal Iqbal, 23, was jailed for three-and-a-half years at York Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

He was running out of fuel and texting on Snapchat when he killed biker Peter Rushforth, 56, on on Kirkby Road near Ripon in September 2019.

Iqbal, of Toller Lane, Bradford, was on the second day of his new Amazon delivery job,

Speaking about the sentence handed to Iqbal, Detective Sergeant Kirsten Aldridge of North Yorkshire Police’s major collision investigation team, said;

“From the seconds after the collision which killed Mr Rushforth, Iqbal denied any responsibility for the collision – categorically stating he was not using his phone. However, our experienced digital forensic investigators found unquestionable evidence to challenge Daniaal Iqbal’s claims.

“This is yet another fatal collision caused by a driver who refused to listen to the warnings about the risk of using a mobile while driving and chose to blatantly disregard the law. Very sadly it’s Peter Rushforth who has paid the price for Daniaal Iqbal’s poor decision-making. To lose someone in a traffic collision is devastating. But to know that it was entirely avoidable and was caused by someone who believed sending a message was more important than their safety is galling.

“I hope the sentence handed to Daniaal Iqbal makes those drivers who may take that chance and use their mobile behind the wheel just stop and think for a moment. When you’re driving, please put your phone away – another person’s life could depend on it.”

Read more:

• Amazon driver on Snapchat jailed for causing death of Ripon biker
• Man jailed for setting fire to historic Knaresborough pub

An Amazon delivery driver who caused the death of a motorcyclist by dangerous driving in Ripon has been jailed.

Daniaal Iqbal, 23, was running out of fuel and texting on Snapchat when he knocked over and killed Peter Rushforth on Kirkby Road near Ripon in September 2019.

Iqbal, of Toller Lane, Bradford, denied driving dangerously, but was found guilty by a jury on August 15 this year.

He appeared before York Crown Court this afternoon where he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Second day of new job

Iqbal, who was on only the second day of his new Amazon delivery job, was also allegedly using a navigational app on his mobile phone when the collision occurred.

He was driving around a sweeping bend on Kirkby Road when he collided with Mr Rushforth’s Suzuki travelling in the opposite direction, the court was told.

Mr Rushforth, 56, was on the correct side of the road as he came around the bend, but Iqbal’s white Transit van was on the wrong side. The side of the van struck Mr Rushforth’s helmet, part of which broke off.

Mr Rushforth and his motorbike then slid along the road towards the grass verge, crashing into a stone wall. He then collided with some tree branches before falling to the ground. Other motorists went to his aid, but he suffered fatal injuries and was certified dead at the scene.

York Crown Court.

The court heard that about 15 minutes before the collision on September 21, Iqbal exchanged five text messages with an Amazon colleague about needing to refuel and arranging to meet up at the Morrisons petrol station in Ripon because he didn’t have a company fuel card.

He then made a delivery in Ripon and was travelling on Kirkby Lane, towards the town, when the crash occurred at about 6.30pm.

Mr Rushforth and his bike were thrown from the road into a nearby wall and then into a tree, the court was told.

Police were called out and Iqbal, who was described as looking “completely shocked”, remained at the scene.

Phone records showed that minutes before the collision, he had carried out a search on the Apple Maps navigation app to get directions to the fuel station.

At 6.30pm, around the time of the crash, records showed that the camera and Snapchat apps on Iqbal’s phone had been activated as he approached the collision site.

Read more:

• Amazon driver found guilty of causing death of Ripon biker
• Amazon driver killed Ripon motorcyclist while he sent Snapchat message, court hears

A forensic officer said his investigation suggested that Iqbal had sent a Snapchat message to a friend at about the time the delivery van came round the bend into the path of Mr Rushforth’s motorbike.

The court heard that Iqbal was “distracted” for 32 seconds in the time that the crash happened.

‘Devastated’ and ‘remorseful’

Katherine Robinson, prosecuting, told the court this afternoon that Iqbal’s use of his phone had caused a “substantial risk of danger”.

However, Felicia Davy, mitigating, said the 23-year-old had never been before the courts before and was a “low risk” of future offending.

Ms Davy said the defendant was “devastated” and “remorseful” and that the case had been delayed for three years.

She said:

“In the three years since this offence, he has used his time as positively as possible.

“He is not somebody who has no regard or lack of appreciation of the impact on the deceased’s family.”

Iqbal did “everything appropriate” to help following the crash and has since suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, the defence added.

Judge Simon Hickey sentenced the 23-year-old to three and a half years in prison.

Judge Hickey said while he accepted that Iqbal was a “decent young man” and was “spoken of highly”, he was distracted for too long and caused the death of an “innocent man”.

Iqbal was also disqualified from driving for 45 months.

He will serve half of his sentence before being released on licence.

A man has been jailed for setting fire to a historic Knaresborough pub and causing £15,000 worth of damage.

Stephen Pearson, of Pinhoe Road in Exeter, was charged with arson at Blind Jack’s pub on Market Place in the town on August 21 last year.

He admitted the offence and was jailed for 31 months at York Crown Court this morning.

Pearson, who had grown up in the area, had been in Knaresborough for a week’s holiday to visit old places from his childhood.

The court heard how, because the weather was poor, the 45-year-old decided to go drinking in Wetherspoons.

At around 8.15pm, he went to Blind Jack’s pub where customers complained he had been handing out flyers from a bag.

Dan Cowdy, prosecuting, told the court that Pearson had been asked politely by bar staff to leave the premises.

He was described as “smelling of cannabis” and stumbling.

Mr Cowdy said:

“On his way out, he asked if [other customers] had complained about him.”

The court was told that Pearson then went to the Cross Keys pub and missed his train to Leeds.

As a result, he decided to sleep in the castle grounds and woke up at 4am.

‘Woke up cold and angry’

Mr Cowdy told the court that Pearson “woke up feeling cold and angry” and began walking back to Market Place.

On his way, he picked up a bin bag of paper and placed it in front of Blind Jack’s pub.

CCTV shown in court showed Pearson attempting to light the bag multiple times at 4.14am.

He then left and returned with a piece of paper at 4.27am, which he set fire to and used to ignite the bag before leaving the scene.

CCTV footage from the fire, which shows the bin bag in front of the pub.

The fire caused an estimated £15,235 worth of damage to the door, glass and signage of the pub.

The Grade II listed pub is named after Knaresborough’s John Metcalf, the first professional road builder to emerge in the industrial revolution.

The fire service extinguished the blaze and Pearson was arrested and later charged with arson.

Owners left feeling ‘unsafe and anxious’

Owners Christian and Alice Ogley were staying at a friend’s house at the time of the incident.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Ogley said then fire had left them “constantly checking” CCTV and feeling “unsafe and anxious”.

He said:

“We feel that the effect of this incident has made us feel unsafe.”

The court heard how during interviews with North Yorkshire Police, Pearson apologised and described himself as “an idiot”.

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He told officers that he did not intend to set fire to the pub itself, but wanted to leave the bag in front of the building as he was angry.

Mr Cowdy said:

“He assumed that the pub was empty and that no one lived there.”

Mitigating for Pearson, George Hazel-Owrem told the court that the 45-year-old had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He added that Pearson had shown “genuine remorse” for his crime and had issues with alcoholism and homelessness.

Mr Hazel-Owrem said:

“It is plain that he has a number of serious issues, particularly with alcohol and as a consequence of that has been homeless for some time.

“He also suffers from depression and anxiety and has had suicidal ideation in the past.”

Sentencing Pearson, Judge Simon Hickey told him that the fire had a significant impact on the victims.

He said:

“As the owners have pointed out, it had a drastic effect of them and a knock-on effect as they came out of covid.”

However, he accepted that Pearson had shown remorse for his actions.

Pearson was jailed for 30 months for arson, plus an extra month to be served consecutively for assaulting an emergency worker in Devon while on bail for the Blind Jack’s offence.

He will serve half the sentence before being released on licence.

Warning: this article contains details some people may find upsetting.

A sexual predator has been jailed for over two years for performing a lewd act near the children’s play area in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens.

Kevin Payne, 67, was under a strict court order not to go anywhere near children’s play parks following previous convictions for child-sex offences.

But on June 12 he parked his car outside Valley Gardens and made his way to a wooded area near a children’s play area, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said a passer-by spotted Payne performing a lewd act in woods overlooking the play park.

Payne was “startled” by the passer-by, who spotted him through a gap in a hedge and shouted over to him as Payne ran away.

Ms Morrison added:

“The passer-by gave chase and (as) he followed Payne, he took a number of pictures of him before apprehending him and keeping him there until police arrived.”

Payne was arrested and admitted breaching a sexual-harm prevention order, which prohibited him from going within 100 metres of any recreational area where there may be children present.

However, he denied a separate charge of outraging public decency by behaving in an indecent manner, namely performing a lewd act.

The play area in Valley Gardens.

Payne, from Bradford, was due to face trial today but admitted the offence at the last minute.

Ms Morrison said Payne committed the offences in Harrogate while under investigation for downloading indecent sexual imagery online.

He was arrested for those offences in December last year after police monitoring officers paid him a routine visit to check he was complying with the sexual-harm prevention order following a previous jail sentence for child-sex offences.

Payne handed over his mobile phone on which police found internet searches for sexual images of children and an indecent photo of a child rated Category A – the worst kind. They also found six images of extreme pornography, namely bestiality.

Payne admitted making an indecent image of a child and possessing six extreme-pornographic images following his arrest and was recalled to prison to serve the remainder of a six-month jail sentence imposed in June last year for making indecent images of children.

He was released from prison in January this year and went on to commit the offences at Valley Gardens in June.

40 years of crime

The Crown proceeded to sentence on all matters today as the prosecution outlined Payne’s 40-year criminal history, which comprised 51 previous offences including many for indecently exposing himself in front of young girls and making indecent images of children.

His rap sheet also included voyeurism, kerb-crawling, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, serious violence, harassment, public disorder, and breaching court orders.

He had been given extended prison sentences in the past for child-sex offences as various judges deemed him a dangerous offender.

Defence barrister Derek Duffy said Payne “did not intend to be seen by anybody” in Valley Gardens when he carried out the lewd act.

He said Payne had rented accommodation in Bradford before being remanded in custody, but he had since lost that and intended to live with a friend in Harrogate upon his release from jail.

He added that Payne — formerly of Ling Park Avenue, Bingley, but currently of no fixed address — was a retired man who had lost all contact with his family and was a “rather despondent” figure.

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Judge Simon Hickey described Payne’s latest offences in Valley Gardens as “quite revolting” and told him:

“You are, worryingly, 67, and you are still committing offences of this nature. Fortunately, the children were not to see what you did.”

Payne was given a 27-month jail sentence but will only spend half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years and the judge ordered that the sexual-harm prevention order would remain in place.

Mr Hickey said the named witness who chased and detained Payne would be paid £150 from the public purse for his “very-public-spirited” actions.

Two men jailed for vicious attack in Ripon

Two middle-aged men were jailed today for a vicious attack on an innocent man who suffered a broken eye socket which required facial-reconstruction surgery.

Gavin Hewson, 45, and Charles Neate, 55, punched the victim repeatedly at a block of flats in Ripon which left him “covered in blood”, York Crown Court heard.

They were arrested and charged with causing grievous bodily harm but denied the offences. However, a jury found them guilty following a trial in November.

Prosecutor Nicola Hoskins said the two men went to the apartment block in St Marygate apparently looking to “sort out” another man but ended up attacking his neighbour, who was named in court.

The victim had been watching TV with his partner when they heard someone shouting the name of their neighbour who lived in the opposite flat.

When he went outside to ask them to be quiet and go away, he was attacked by the two men, resulting in a fractured eye socket, swollen eyes and a suspected broken nose.

His partner called police as other people outside flagged down a passing police car and alerted officers to the attack.

York Crown Court

Two officers followed a “trail of blood” from the apartment block’s communal door to the victim’s flat and advised him to seek medical attention.

He was treated at Harrogate District Hospital and kept in overnight due to the extent of his injuries. He later had facial-reconstruction surgery.

Hewson and Neate claimed they weren’t even at the apartment block but were found guilty as charged. They appeared for sentence today.

Ripon man had 13 previous convictions

Ms Hoskins described the attack, which occurred on August 2, 2020, as “prolonged and persistent”.

Hewson, of Maple Walk, Ripon, had 13 previous convictions for 20 offences including battery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and disorderly behaviour.

Neate, of Aysgarth Walk, Richmond Hill, Leeds, had 110 offences on his record including many for serious violence and previous convictions for assault with intention to rob, public disorder, affray and carrying a blade.

David McGonigal, for Hewson, said the father-of-two had a well-paid job but accepted he had a problem with drink-related violence.

He said Hewson could lose his job and his home if he were jailed.

Robert Mochrie, for Neate, said his client had been struggling with his mental health for years following a family tragedy.

But judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said the attack at the apartment block was “far too serious” for anything other than an immediate jail sentence.

He told the defendants:

“Both of you have had serious tragedies in your lives and they were deeply unpleasant…but think about all the unpleasantness, the upset, the fear, that you have caused in your lives to other people.

“And on this night, I’m quite satisfied that the pair of you were going to these flats in order to sort somebody out.

“You weren’t after this (victim)…but it turned nasty very quickly upon your unfortunate victim who had nothing to do with you and came out simply to ask you to be quiet…and both of you set about him.

“You beat up a purely innocent man just for the hell of it.”

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He told Neate:

“It is right to say that your offending was tailing off somewhat…but back it’s come with a vengeance.”

Jailing him for three years, the judge described Neate as a “very violent man indeed”.

Hewson was jailed for two-and-a-half years because his track record for violence wasn’t as bad as Neate’s.

Both men were also given a five-year restraining order, banning them from contacting the victim and his partner and going to St Marysgate in Ripon.

A Harrogate man has been jailed for three years for a “savage”, unprovoked attack on a neighbour who was left with a fractured eye socket, broken nose and cracked ribs.

Richard Banks, 45, sidled up to the victim in the street and asked him for a cigarette, York Crown Court heard.

The victim, a professional man who was out walking his dog, invited him into his flat in St Mary’s Avenue, Harrogate, but soon felt “uncomfortable” because Banks, whom he barely knew, was “overfamiliar” with him, said prosecutor Rachel Landin.

He asked Banks to leave which he did but returned later that day. When the victim opened the door, Banks, a long-time drug user, “barged in and began shouting”, said Ms Landin, adding:

“He attacked (the victim), knocking him to the floor and repeatedly kicking and punching him to the torso and head.”

Banks took hold of a knife in the kitchen and threatened to kill the named victim, who ran to the front of the house and shouted for help from a window. Ms Landin said:

“He wasn’t sure where (Banks) had gone, so he picked up a bread knife and went into the street.

“He encountered (Banks) again who renewed his attack, punching (the victim) repeatedly to the face.”

Fractured eye socket

Passers-by witnessed the horrific attack and called police who arrived to find Banks standing over the “confused” victim, who was lying helpless after being knocked to the ground and banging his head on the pavement.

The victim, who was concussed, still had the knife in his hand, but police said there was no threat posed by him and the blade was confiscated without a struggle.

York Crown Court

He was taken to Harrogate District Hospital where he woke up “not knowing what was going on and in a lot of pain”.

He was transferred to York Hospital for surgery and specialist treatment to a fractured eye socket and broken ribs and nose, as well as cuts, bruises and scratches all over his body.

Banks, who bizarrely appeared “more focused” on the victim’s dog, was arrested in the street and charged with wounding.

He denied the offence, falsely claiming self-defence, but was found guilty following a trial at the Crown Court in July.

Read more:

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• Three-month jail term for ‘confused’ man found with bayonet in Kirk Hammerton

He appeared for sentence yesterday after being remanded in custody.

Ms Landing said the victim had to have surgery to rebuild his shattered eye socket by inserting titanium plates.

He had continued to suffer from impaired and blurred vision since the attack on December 28, 2020, and been receiving optical treatment.

He had been working in IT but had had to change his job due to the computers exacerbating migraines brought on by the attack. His vision impairment would be permanent.

The victim described the attack as “random and unprovoked”. He had become “very paranoid (and) extremely nervous” when out in public.

He had been prescribed anti-depressants and sleeping tablets and didn’t feel safe at home, which was close to where Banks lived. He added:

“I find it really hard to leave my flat, even to walk the dog or go to the shop.

“I have uncontrollable panic attacks.”

The side of his face was “numb for the best part of a year, causing problems eating”.

11 previous convictions

Banks, of St Mary’s Avenue, had 11 previous convictions for 21 offences including public disorder, damaging property and drug-related offences including cultivating cannabis in 2013, possessing cocaine in 2014 and possession of crack and heroin in 2018. He recently received a suspended prison sentence for dealing heroin and cocaine.

His barrister Nick Cartmell said Banks was “hysterical, crying (and) wasn’t in his right mind” when he was arrested for the attack in St Mary’s Avenue.

But judge Simon Hickey said Banks had shown no remorse and described the attack as “savage, nasty and persistent”. He told Banks:

“The victim is…frightened to go out; he’s frightened to shop; he has to rely on people. (There is) permanent disruption to his sight and he’s very conscious about the (titanium) plate in his face.”

He said although Banks had mental-health issues, a three-year jail term was “the least” sentence he could impose for “this savage beating of this man in his own home and outside in the street”.

Banks will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

A man was caught wandering the streets of the Harrogate district with a bayonet after he went looking for spies he thought were bugging his home.

Christopher Graham, 58, from Harrogate, was found with the large, sheathed military-style blade in Kirk Hammerton after his daughter called police saying she was concerned for her father’s welfare, York Crown Court heard.

She told police her father’s mental state had “deteriorated in recent days, to the extent that he thought his [home] was being bugged”, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

Graham left his house “saying he was going to kill [the people he thought were wiretapping his home]”, she added.

Police went looking for him and eventually received reports of a man matching Graham’s description looking “disorientated and confused” at a local petrol station.

Officers found him on York Road, Kirk Hammerton, where he appeared “quite confused, had no shoes or socks on and was attempting to hitchhike”. Ms Morrison said:

“He was picked up by police and found to be carrying a bag which contained, among other items, a sheathed bayonet [blade].”

He was taken in for questioning and told officers he had become “more and more anxious in recent days”. The prosecuting barrister added:

“He said he had forgotten the knife was in his bag and didn’t realise he had it with him.”

Graham, of Butler Road, Harrogate, was arrested and charged with carrying a bladed article in public. He admitted the offence, which occurred on September 25, and appeared for sentence today.

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Ms Morrison said there was no evidence that Graham had taken the bayonet out of the bag while he was wandering the streets.

He hadn’t been taking his medication at the time and had been detained in hospital in the past for mental health issues. He was said to suffer from a chronic relapsing psychotic disorder.

The court heard he had 19 previous convictions for 42 offences, including burglaries and drug-related matters, most of which occurred in the 1980s.

His most recent conviction was in 2009 for an offence of false imprisonment for which he received an 18-month jail sentence.

Ms Morrison said Graham had a drug habit at the time of that offence.

‘No intention of harm’

Defence barrister Victoria Smithswain said Graham had been remanded in custody since his arrest and had therefore already served the equivalent of a four-month prison sentence.

Recorder Tahir Khan KC told Graham:

“It appears that you had not been taking your medication, as a result of which you became confused and were thinking negative thoughts.”

He said it was evident the bayonet blade was never brandished, adding:

“I am satisfied that you had no intention of harming anybody…

“I deal with you on the basis that this was an isolated lapse on your part because you had not been taking your medication.”

Graham was given a three-month jail sentence which triggered his immediate release from custody due to the amount of time he had already spent on remand.

A Harrogate man has denied wounding another man with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on the town’s Bower Street last month.

William Boam, 23, who lives on the street, appeared before York Crown Court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

It follows an incident on Bower Street on the night of October 14.

Boam, who appeared via video link from HMP Hull, also denied a charge of common assault against another man on the same night.

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He pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a knife on Bower Street.

A trial date was set at York Crown Court for April 11, 2023.

Recorder Tahir Kahn remanded Boam in custody until the date of the trial.