DAD GOT KNIFE, STUN GUN TO CONFRONT MEN OUTSIDE HIS FLAT

JAIL FOR MAN WHO ALSO SPAT AT COPS

A MAN armed himself with a stun gun, a knuckle duster and a machete to confront an angry group of five men outside his flat, a court heard.

The group turned up at the home of Rhys Chant in Scalpay Close, Beaumont Leys, on August 6 last year. They were said to be looking for one of his friends, who was not there at the time.

But instead of locking himself inside and calling the police, Chant armed himself with the weapons in a bid to scare off the group.

Chant was said to have confronted the group out of concern for his family in the flat and, during the standoff, his partner removed the machete from him and took it back indoors.

The police arrived before anyone was injured, but Chant then spat at an officer who was arresting him.

Chant was then charged possessing a prohibited weapon, a disguised firearm (the stun gun), possessing an offensive weapon (the knuckle duster) in a public place, and common assault on an emergency worker (by spitting).

He admitted the charges at Leicester Crown Court.

In interview, 25-year-old Chant claimed the stun gun belonged to someone else, but he refused to say who.

He denied sparking the Taser, as claimed by the men present.

James Varley, mitigating, said the incident was not of Chant’s making, that the men had come to his home and one had allegedly threatened to stab him.

“He should have just shut the door, but instead went out,” said Mr Varley. “They were there because of a feud with his friend, who had said something to one of the group’s children.”

The judge said that CCTV footage did not show anyone in the group was armed.

Mr Varley said: “They (the men) were happy to speak to the police at the scene, although they declined to make statements - but they were the ones who went to my client’s front door looking for trouble.

“He responded to the situation badly. He armed himself because of his partner and their one-year-old son and he was worried about what the men would do. He wasn’t squaring up to them and didn’t use the weapons.

“The stun gun was a cheap Chinese item that may have worked on contact, but had no range and could not fire anything - it was to deter them.

“There’s a great deal of public concern about firearms but this is not in the same bracket as weapons such as guns, rifles or machine guns.”

Sentencing Chant to three years, Judge Timothy Spencer QC said: “There was clearly provocation with, effectively, a mob at your door, but you should have stayed inside and called the police.

“You had a torch, a disguised Taser or stun gun, and it’s really serious, as you now appreciate. It doesn’t really matter where you got it from, it’s potentially a highly potent weapon that you had no business having.

“You also had a knuckle-duster on your knuckles, a fearsome weapon.

“In relation to the Taser, the law indicates a minimum sentence with a starting point of five years.

“The prosecution has taken a fair approach and I have to look at whether there are exceptional circumstances here where I don’t have to impose the minimum term.

“I think it would be disproportionate to impose that sort of sentence.

“I accept you’ve turned your life around in recent years to be a decent partner, father and employee.

“On this occasion, you took a confrontational stance as a single male surrounded by five others and thought you needed some sort of weaponry.”

The judge said that four months of the overall sentence was for spitting at the police officer.