Mum ‘terrified’ as knife poked through letterbox
A MUM and her child were terrified when a stranger poked a knife through their letterbox, followed by a jet of liquid.
The woman had no idea who was on the other side of her front door in the 17-storey block of flats or whether the liquid was flammable, a court heard.
Akbar Azad, 43, told city magistrates he had no intention of harming the woman and claimed he had gone to extreme lengths to get her attention so he could accuse her of being a noisy neighbour.
Azad and the woman live in Framland House, in Pluto Close, on the St Peter’s estate, in Highfields, Leicester, the court was told.
The defendant admitted a single charge of criminal damage, relating to paint marks on the woman’s floor.
Prosecutor Sally Bedford said: “The victim lives with her young child and says she’d never really had anything to do with this defendant.
“However, it appears he had some issues with her and has suggested she was being noisy.
“He took a kitchen knife and a washing-up liquid bottle he had filled with a mixture of paint and water.
“She describes hearing a loud knocking on her door and could hear a male voice shouting and swearing outside.
“She saw a knife poking through the letterbox. It was being moved from side to side.
“She says she was utterly scared for her safety. She picked up her child and held her close.
“Then, she describes a bottle being poked through the letterbox and a liquid squirted into her hallway. She did not know what it was and, again, she feared for her safety.”
The defendant was identified from CCTV footage.
Sarfraz Ahmad, representing Azad, said: “He says that for something in the order of 17 to 18 months there has been persistent noise and he made complaints to the council
“He tells me there is noise at 2am, at 4am, and he will go and knock on the door politely. He didn’t even know what the occupant of this flat looked like because each time there was no answer.
“On the day in question, he accepts he had used drugs. He was sitting in his flat when the noise began again and he became frustrated and made a foolish decision.
“He says he took a knife with him because the design of the letterboxes meant he would need something to poke it open so he could see inside to see if he could get the attention of the occupant.
“If there was no reply, he says, he was going to squirt the paint and water mixture through the letterbox so the people inside would know to answer the door.
“He could have made 100 other choices, but this is what he did. He did not know a child lived there and denies using any profanities.”
Magistrate Madeline Bonser imposed a restraining order which means Azad must not contact the woman in any way, including going to her floor in the block, for the next six months.
She told him: “This was a particularly nasty offence.”
He was told to pay £75 compensation, a fine of £80, prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £34.
DEFENDANT SAYS HE WAS TRYING TO ATTRACT THE WOMAN’S ATTENTION TO COMPLAIN ABOUT NOISE