Road rage axe thug is jailed
A THUG who smashed a car window with an axe before chasing the vehicle around a housing estate in a ‘horrifying’ road rage incident has been jailed.
James Delaney, 36, was driving a BMW when he and a motorbike overtook a Vauxhall Zafira, which was carrying a husband and wife and their 10-year-old son, on a Sunday morning on Worsley Road in Salford.
Shortly after, the BMW and the motorbike stopped in the middle of the road. Delaney, from Salford, said the man on the bike was a friend, and they had stopped to chat.
The female driver of the Zafira ‘perfectly properly’ beeped the horn to alert the pair to her presence, prosecutor Gavin Howie told Manchester Crown Court.
They moved on, but Delaney later got out of the car and approached the Zafira, armed with an axe. As they drove off, Delaney smashed the passenger side window of the car, showering the man in the passenger seat with glass.
Delaney got back in his car and started to follow them. The woman sped up and made several turns to try and get away.
After about three minutes, they were able to get away from Delaney and stopped in a church car park.
The court heard the boy ‘doesn’t want to get back in the car again.’
The judge, Recorder Mary Loram QC, said ‘no child should be subjected to such horror.’
Defending, Mark Rhind, said on the day of the incident, on June 30 last year, Delaney had received ‘devastating personal news.’ He said that may explain why Delaney behaved in an ‘outrageous way’ following a ‘minor and innocuous’ incident.
The barrister asked whether the judge could suspend the sentence, but the judge said the incident was too serious.
Sentencing Delaney to three years in jail, Recorder Loram told him: “It is difficult to imagine the terror that they (the family) must have felt when they saw you approach their car with an axe and actually use it.”
Delaney, of Carmel Close, Salford, pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon, dangerous driving and criminal damage. He was also banned from driving for four-and-ahalf years.