Beheading threat as ex-pals came to blows
TWO rivals had an armed fight in the street which left a man who had made beheading threats crying.
Darryl Hobbs had turned up at the home of Christopher Ord armed with a baseball bat and hammer and told his pregnant girlfriend he was going to kill him.
CCTV captures his raging threats as he whacks a fence and bike and warns he’ll “chop his f ****** head off ”.
The former friends, between whom there was bad blood for reasons that were not explained, then came together and fought with weapons in the street. A court heard
Hobbs came off worse and ended up sitting in his car crying.
Now the pair have been given suspended prison sentences at Newcastle Crown Court, where they were in the dock together.
Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, said the offending happened on February 4 last year in South Shields.
Just before 4pm, Hobbs pulled up outside Ord’s home while he was out.
Mr Ahmad said: “After a short period, Hobbs got out, armed with a baseball bat and hammer and approached the front door.
“He struck the garden fence with the bat and then made repeated threats to kill in relation to Ord, towards his partner.”
The threats included him saying: “Tell him I’ve come here. I will chop his f ****** head off. Tell him he is dead.” He kicked the front door, causing damage and struck a bike in the front garden with the bat.
He drove off and was then approached by Ord, who was also armed and he started attacking his car with a golf club.
Hobbs got out with his weapon and a fight ensued as members of the public looked on.
Hobbs ended up on the ground, with Ord repeatedly striking him with a weapon.
Mr Ahmad said Hobbs “came off slightly worse” and was left with a laceration to his skull and wounds to his lower leg and forearm.
The prosecutor added: “Hobbs was seen to return to his vehicle and was found covered in blood and crying.
“Police found him slumped in the driver’s seat, bleeding from his head.” Hobbs, who appeared under the influence of something, said Ord had smashed his car windows.
Hobbs, 39, of Masefield Drive, South Shields, who has 45 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to threats to kill, affray and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon and was sentenced to 18 months suspended for 18 months with a four-month curfew.
Ord, 31, of Dickens Avenue, South Shields, who has 24 previous convictions, admitted affray and was sentenced to eight months suspended for 18 months.
Judge Robert Adams told them: “It was an appalling incident in a public place and I hope you are both thoroughly ashamed of yourselves and from the reports I’ve read it appears you both are.”
The judge said Hobbs had issued the threats after hearing Ord had threatened him.
He told the pair: “This was an incident in a public place when, as can be clearly seen from the footage, there were a significant number of bystanders.
“It was an appalling act of violence in a public place. It was shortlived but pretty extreme.”