Father threatened by a knifeman in front of daughters
INCIDENT AFTER SCHOOL RUN SCUFFLE
A HULL thug threatened a dad with a knife in front of his three terrified daughters after they were abused by youths on their way home from school.
On Friday, Hull Crown Court heard how David Clayton, 55, of New Bridge Road in east Hull, had got involved with an altercation between a mum and her three daughters and a gang of youths who were abusing them in Ganstead Grove on June 20 last year.
Stephen Robinson, prosecuting, said the woman had been so concerned that she had phoned her partner to come and help.
After he arrived, an argument broke out between him and Clayton which resulted in the pair of them wrestling on the pavement, the court heard.
It was when the man got up and tried to return to his car with his family that Clayton said: “I don’t think so, sunshine.”
Mr Robinson said he had then pulled a kitchen knife from his trouser waistband and “lunged” at the man in front of his terrified daughters.
The man was fortunately able to dodge out of the way and the whole family got in the car, the court heard.
But Clayton then tried to punch him through an open car window, Mr Robinson said, before he and another man began “kicking and hitting” the car.
The sentencing hearing, taking place nearly 18 months after the incident happened, heard there had been a delay in the case partly caused by initial denials by
Clayton, which had led to him having to be identified in a police identity parade.
The court heard he had two previous convictions concerning the possession of weapons.
Mitigating for Clayton, Claire Holmes said the defendant was not responsible for the abusive action of the youths before he got involved in the incident.
But she said the biggest mitigation concerned the health of Clayton and his partner, who both suffer from respiratory conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to Covid-19.
She said Clayton, who has asthma, would be at risk of contracting the virus in jail if given an immediate custodial sentence, while his absence would also mean his partner of 20 years, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and relies on his care, would be at greater risk because of having to leave the house more.
Ms Holmes said Clayton had struggled with alcoholism, which had led him into similar altercations in the past.
Despite his denials, Clayton pleaded guilty to the possession of a blade and the public order offence at an earlier hearing.
Sentencing him, Judge Mark Bury told Clayton he had a “bad record” of previous offences, but that he had demonstrated that he could live a law-abiding life including a stable relationship and previous employment.
“What happened on June 20 last year was, however, totally unacceptable,” he added.
“Somehow you got involved in it and it had nothing to do with you.
“And all in front of his three young school children. Imagine how they felt seeing their father being propositioned with a knife.”
But he said that Clayton “wasn’t to know” when committing his crimes in June last year that there would be a coronavirus pandemic which would present a “real threat” to him and his partner.
The judge said he would have normally given Clayton a nine-month sentence but, under the current circumstances, reduced it to six months in prison.
That consisted of sentences of six months for the possession of the bladed article and four months for the public order offence.