AN angry man threatened to kill a Kirkby Lonsdale dog walker who expressed concern for a car passenger.

Iain Black was taking a stroll close to Devil’s Bridge at 10-30pm on August 30 last year when he saw Paul Anthony Mitchell and Victoria Finch inside a Ford Mondeo.

Mitchell, 57, was in the driver’s seat. Prosecutor Michael Maher told Carlisle Crown Court: “As he walked towards the car he could see the defendant who he noticed was topless - shouting and swearing towards Miss Finch. She was in the passenger seat.”

Mr Black couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, but Mr Maher stated: “It was almost certainly abusive and threatening.

“The defendant turned his attention to Mr Black and became aggressive to him. He shouted ‘what are you looking at?’, and as he passed the car with his dog he said ‘I am going to kill you’.

“He (Mr Black) said he wasn’t unduly troubled by that because he could walk away. But he was concerned for the female. She wasn’t engaging. She was clearly troubled and shocked by what was going on.

“He said it was a situation that could easily have turned violent from the way he (Mitchell) was behaving towards Mr Black and to her.”

Mr Black called police and watched Mitchell - banned from driving in 2018 for no insurance - travel a short distance, erratically, along a one-way street the wrong way.

When arrested, Mitchell initially gave false identity details and then urinated in a police vehicle. He admitted driving while disqualified, no insurance, damaging property, threatening behaviour and obstructing a PC. The court heard Mitchell, of New Road, Halifax, had served the equivalent of an eight-month jail term on remand.

Andrew Evans, defending, said Mitchell and Miss Finch had planned to sleep in in the car, adding: “Both parties were in drink having spent the evening in a pub.”

Recorder Eric Lamb, who described Mr Black as “stoical”, gave Mitchell a two-month jail term, meaning he was due to be released from prison imminently.

He told Mitchell, who also received a three-month driving ban: “This was a violent and aggressive loss of control on your part.