A man used a disc cutter to start cutting the locks off his ex-girlfriend’s house while the woman and her two children were inside.

A neighbour intervened and persuaded Arron Shane Flanagan to put down the power tool.

Flanagan, aged 32, of Crossag Terrace, Ballasalla, was handed a suspended prison sentence when he appeared before High Bailiff Jayne Hughes for sentencing on Tuesday.

Mrs Hughes told him while sentencing: ’This must have been terrifying.

’There were two children present. Neighbours intervened which was brave of them.’

Brandished

Flanagan was said to have arrived at the woman’s home in Westhill Avenue near Castletown on March 17.

He brandished the disc cutter and started to cut locks off the door.

A neighbour approached Flanagan and persuaded him to put the tool down.

Police arrived at the scene and he was arrested.

He failed a breathalyser test with a reading of 66 - the legal limit is 35.

The damage to the door was estimated at £1,020 which Flanagan paid.

Flanagan represented himself in court and was praised by Mrs Hughes who said he spoke ’very eloquently and from the heart’.

He told the court that he was disgusted with himself and wished that he had just gone home.

Flanagan said he had not meant to scare the woman and the children and insisted that he was not a violent person.

Disgusted

At the time of the offence Flanagan said that he had not slept or eaten for more than a day.

Flanagan said he had been kept in custody overnight which had ’scared the hell’ out of him.

He added that he had since self-referred to Motiv8 addiction services.

Flanagan admitted offences of behaviour likely to cause belief that immediate violence may be used and of property damage.

He also pleaded guilty to drink-driving after admitting that he had driven to the woman’s house after drinking.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes sentenced him to 14 weeks in custody, suspended for two years. She explained that there were a number of grounds for suspending the prison sentence.

They include his guilty plea, his remorse, the immediate payment for the damage he caused, the fact that he was attending Motiv8 and the fact that he had no convictions since 2008.

He was also banned from driving for two years with an order to retake his test at the end of the ban.