Axe rampage after tragedy

SIBLING DISTRAUGHT OVER FATAL HIT-AND-RUN

A distraught brother went on a rampage with an axe after he found out his sibling had been fatally injuried in a hit-and-run.

Devastated Joe Wood went to the scene of the accident at Seaham Road, Houghton, where Gary Wood had suffered “catastrophic” injuries then sought to dish out instant revenge.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the 37-year-old turned up at the family home of someone he had been told wasapassengerinthecarthat struck his brother.

Wood stormed into the house with a long-handled axe while two of his pals waited outside.

When he left, just two minutes later, the porch window was smashed and the front door, a bedroom door frame and a wall were also damaged.

Wood, of Racecourse Estate, Houghton, admitted affray.

Judge Paul Sloan QC sentenced him to 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with rehabilitation requirements and 120 hours’ unpaid work.

The judge told him: “I have no doubt that you would have been distraught upon learning of your brother’s fate.”

Paul Greaney QC, defending, handed in a bundle of references and letters of support for the grieving sibling.

Mr Wood died two days after he was hit by a Seat Ibiza last June, which was later found burnt out.

Liam Carr, 19, of Langdon Road, Westerhope, Newcastle, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, perverting the course of justice and affray.

He was jailed for fiveand-a-half years in January.