Dad who brandished scythe at 30-strong gang terrorising his family is spared jail after judge calls teen mob ‘feral’
A DAD who brandished a scythe-like tool at a mob terrorising his family has been spared jail. Chris Stewart, 38, picked up the billhook when police failed to deal with the 30-strong gang at his home. But minutes after scaring the teenage yobs away, armed cops arrived, levelled their guns at his house and hauled […]
A DAD who brandished a scythe-like tool at a mob terrorising his family has been spared jail.
Chris Stewart, 38, picked up the billhook when police failed to deal with the 30-strong gang at his home.
But minutes after scaring the teenage yobs away, armed cops arrived, levelled their guns at his house and hauled Chris off.
He was told he was facing 18 months behind bars but was spared by a judge, who said it would be unjust to lock him up.
Handing him an eight-month suspended sentence, Judge Sean Morris said: “You were confronted by a mob of feral youths who were intent on goading you.”
The incident came after Chris’s dad Clive, 66, had been tormented for weeks by the gang of 15 and 16-year-olds.
Chris said: “He is small and has long hair and a long beard and some people say he looks like Gandhi.
“The kids started calling him Gandhi so I asked them to stop.
18 MONTHS BEHIND BARS
“The stupid thing is he looks nothing like Gandhi. I said to them, ‘Do you even know who Gandhi was?’ and, of course, they didn’t have a clue.”
But trouble flared when dad of three Chris, a lorry driver, was surrounded by the gang as he walked to the shops. He said: “They were all goading me, trying to get me to react.”
At the shop, he asked staff to call the police and officers assured him the yobs had gone. But when he got back to his home in Strensall, York, he found the gang lying in wait.
Chris said they were hurling insults, throwing things at his motorbike and armed themselves with fence posts.
Worried about his dad and son Milo, 11, who were inside the house, he went to the gate to confront the troublemakers.
He picked up the billhook, which he had been using to clear weeds — and similar to the scythe used by topless Aidan Turner in Poldark.
‘IN TEARS’
He said: “When they still didn’t clear off I waved it above my head, that’s all.” The youths scarpered but minutes later four armed police and a dog handler raced up.
He was forced to kneel in the street with his hands on his head. After being locked up for 23 hours in a cell, he was charged with possessing a bladed article.
Chris said he pleaded guilty at magistrates court to try to put an end to the matter only to be told it would be referred to York crown court for sentencing.
Judge Morris told him he had been wrong to chase the youths away but recognised he was worried about his family’s safety.
Chris said: “I was in tears in the dock. I was so pleased that the judge saw sense.”
However, he remains angry that North Yorkshire police arrested him in the first place.
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He said: “There are these yobs creating grief for people, no one does anything then as soon as someone challenges them like I did the police race round and arrest me. That can’t be right.”
North Yorkshire Police insisted they had taken steps to deal with the antisocial behaviour.
A spokesman urged residents to report even trivial incidents, adding: “It is important not to wait until things escalate into something more serious.”
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