A drunk man who went to his cousin’s home carrying a hatchet after a rift between them has been handed a suspended sentence.
Martin James Kelly banged on the door using the back of the axe and shouted ‘I’m going to kill you’, but no-one came out.
He later said that he had drunk ‘30 or 40’ cans of lager before going to his cousin’s house.
After pleading guilty to provoking behaviour and possessing an offensive weapon, Kelly was sentenced to four months custody, suspended for 12 months.
The 41-year-old was also made the subject of a 12-month suspended sentence supervision order.
We previously reported that there had been ill feelings between the two relatives for some time before the incident.
He was carrying a hatchet with him and admitted later that he had been drinking.
Kelly then knocked on the door using the back of the hatchet but no-one came out.
He was said to have been swearing and shouting: ‘I’m going to kill you’.
Police were called but Kelly left before officers arrived.
However, they found him in Crosby and he was subsequently arrested.
He was interviewed at police headquarters and said that prior to the offence he had drunk 30 or 40 cans of lager.
Kelly said he recalled having the hatchet but couldn’t remember where he got it from.
He said that he had not intended to harm anyone but understood that people would have been fearful.
The court heard that he has no convictions since 2012.
Defence advocate Ian Kermode entered a basis of plea for his client, in which Kelly said there had been ill feeling between the pair for some time and that he had gone to his cousin’s house to tell him to leave his family alone.
He accepted he had no reasonable excuse to be carrying the hatchet but said that he had not intended to cause any harm.
The case had previously been adjourned for a probation report and a psychiatric report, but Mr Kermode said that a psychiatric report would not have been ready until January so they had decided against it.
‘Clearly the background is a sorry tale of a family falling out,’ said the advocate.
‘There had been simmering tensions and they boiled over.
‘Mr Kelly would say that it occurred because of derogatory comments made about his children.
‘He went there intending to tell the victim to stop making these comments.
‘There was a degree of provocation in terms of the comments.’
A probation report assessed Kelly as a low risk of reoffending.
Magistrates chair David Christian told Kelly: ‘We find it hard to believe anybody could still be standing after drinking 30 to 40 cans of lager.
‘If somebody had opened that door heaven knows what you might have done with that hatchet.’
Kelly was also ordered to pay £125 prosecution costs within two months.