TWO angry Windermere men who wanted a confrontation with a neighbour they blamed for an assault arrived at his property late at night armed with a garden fork and a hammer, a court heard.

Michael Newton, 49, and his friend Stuart Weir, 40, who smashed windows and yelled abuse outside the man’s flat, were sentenced after they admitted a raft of offences linked to their behaviour at Helm Close on January 7.

Both admitted affray, criminal damage, stealing a bike and possessing an offensive weapon. Newton also admitted witness intimidation and assaulting an emergency worker, while Weir also admitted a public order offence.

The defendants were stung into action by an assault on Weir, perpetrated by the man they wanted to confront, Carlisle Crown Court heard. This was accepted by the prosecution.

As he passed sentence on the defendants, Recorder Paul Hodgkinson described the events that gave rise to the charges they faced as 'very ugly' and told Newton his behaviour was 'pathetic' and like that of a 'delinquent teenager.'

Daniel Bramhall, prosecuting, said that the background was bad feeling between the two defendants, who live in Helm Close, and the other man, who lived nearby and who had assaulted Weir.

Residents were woken shortly after midnight by the sound of banging and both defendants were seen walking through a communal door which gave access to the area where the man the defendants fell out with lives.

Newton, carrying a small, three-pronged garden fork, was yelling that he wanted the man they were annoyed with to come outside.

“I’m going to kill him,” was among the comments yelled by one of the men, the court heard. Newton used the garden fork to bang on the man’s front door. Weir was also there, holding a hammer. The defendants smashed the man’s windows.

The entire incident lasted 30 or 40 minutes, the court heard. Newton also admitted witness intimidation. Mr Bramhall said that after being released by the police, witnesses heard Weir shouting: “He’s a dead man.”

Newton, who has 68 offences on his record, also admitted assaulting an emergency worker because when arrested he was agitated and aggressive and struck a female officer in the face.

Weir has 126 offences on his record. 

Rachel Oakdene, for Newton, said both defendants regretted their behaviour but what happened could be regarded as having been 'tit for tat.' The prosecution had accepted that Weir was assaulted, and the offences arose out of 'frustration.'

The two defendants believed the victim was trying to get them in trouble with the police and their conduct that evening was aimed at the victim only, not other residents.

She said: “The defendant accepts that his conduct cannot be accepted. He’s been in custody since January 8, the equivalent of a 12-month sentence. Mr Newton accepts that he was angry when arrested and he was drunk, and he felt that he and Mr Weir were being victimised.”

Recorder Hodgkinson said: “It’s absolutely pathetic, a man of 49 conducting himself in the way he does. It’s like the behaviour of a delinquent teenager, not a 49-year-old male.” 

Graham Rishton, for Weir, highlighted a five-year gap in the defendant’s offending and how he had stopped using drugs and moved away from Windermere. But Weir then returned to the town after that relationship broke down.

The barrister said: “It was tit for tat.

“When he was first arrested and taken into custody, he was then taken to hospital for a CT scan because he had an injury to the back of his head and that is the assault referred to. But whatever had gone on prior to this, it certainly does not justify the response.

“He is bitterly disappointed in himself, having made progress with his life, to find himself back before the court.”

Both defendants were given 18-month jail terms, suspended for two years. Newton must complete 40 rehabilitation activity days and a 90-day alcohol abstinence order as well as 140 hours of unpaid work.

Both men were also given a five-year restraining order, banning any contact with the victim.