Get out of your house, I’m going to smash your head in...
A MAN nearly had his head smashed with a hammer by a thug he was trying to stop barging into his home.
Mark Griffiths, 53, went to Michael Chadwick’s home with a friend after hearing his partner had spoken to the police about a man called ‘Daz.’
Mr Chadwick and his partner heard the pair after they kicked at his door on July 27 last year.
Looking out from a window of his home in Poplar Avenue, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, Mr Chadwick saw Griffiths and his friend, one of whom shouted: “Get out of your f .... ing house, I’m going to smash your head in.”
Simon Duncan, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court, said: “Mr Chadwick, not the shy retiring type, concerned that the kicking would cause damage went downstairs and opened the door.”
The two men tried to force their way in but Mr Chadwick used his shoulder against the door to stop them, the court heard.
The other man shouted that Mr Chadwick was trying to get ‘Daz’ jailed for something he had not done.
”Mr Chadwick pushed the males away from the door and stepped outside,” Mr Duncan said.
“At that point the defendant pulled out a hammer from his shorts and swung it at Mr Chadwick, narrowly missing his head.
“He stepped back and punched the defendant in the face who fell to the ground.”
Griffiths’ companion tried to attack Mr Chadwick but a neighbour stepped in and stopped him and there was a tussle.
Both men left after the neighbour said he had called the police.
The police arrived and stopped Griffiths and his companion in a taxi. The pair were arrested but the hammer wasn’t found.
In interview, Griffiths claimed that his companion’s son had been verbally abused and he went to the property with his friend for moral support.
Griffiths, of Phoenix Brow, St Helens, pleaded guilty to being in possession of an offensive weapon.
Griffiths also admitted failing to surrender to bail in October. He was arrested on November 7 and has been in custody since.
Judge Neil Flewitt QC jailed him for nine months and said that he regarded swinging the hammer at Mr Chadwick was an aggravating feature.