Man who threatened woman with knife spared jail

Neil Handley was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court

A man who pulled a knife on his ex-girlfriend and threatened to burn her home down has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Neil Handley, 35, had to be incapacitated by police with a Taser during the volatile outburst at the woman's home, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Handley, from Middlesbrough, admitted affray, criminal damage and making threats with a blade.

He was jailed for a year suspended for two years and ordered to complete 120 hours unpaid work.

Prosecutor Rachel Masters said Handley had been in a relationship with the woman for four years which ended in 2019.

He would still visit her and arrived uninvited in the early hours of 9 March and quickly became "argumentative and aggressive", Ms Master said.

As he was leaving, he kicked and broke a door.

'So scared'

At about 14:30 GMT he was found sleeping on the woman's sofa.

Once awoken, he again "began shouting" at the woman claiming she had started a relationship with someone else.

The court heard he told her he would "blow" her house up and "put [her] in a box".

Handley then tried to tear off her mantlepiece, threw a can of beer narrowly missing the woman and punched a hole in her coffee table before going to the kitchen and grabbing a knife with a 7in (18cm) blade.

He "moved as if to lunge" at the woman and held the blade close to her stomach, Ms Masters said.

"She'd never felt so scared in her life," Ms Masters said, adding the woman then managed to shut him in the kitchen.

The victim could hear Handley kicking and stabbing the door while shouting "watch what happens when I get a hold of you", the court heard.

The woman had called the police and when officers arrived they tried to calm Handley down and told him to drop the knife but he refused.

The woman made a "brave" attempt to get the knife from him but failed, with officers resorting to shooting him with a stun gun, the court heard.

In his police interview, Handley, of Midville Walk, said the woman had "got in his face" and there had been an "argument about her seeing someone else" but he could remember very little of what happened.

In a statement read to the court, the woman said she had felt extreme fear and was "worried about [Handley's] unpredictability", adding she no longer felt safe in her home.

'Remember little'

In his police interview, Handley, of Midville Walk, said the woman had "got in his face" and there had been an "argument about her seeing someone else" but he could remember very little of what happened.

In a statement read to the court, the woman said she had felt extreme fear and was "worried about [Handley's] unpredictability", adding she no longer felt safe in her home.

After hearing of Handley's efforts to turn his life around and help other men with their mental health issues, Recorder Felicity Davies said she would give him a chance to use his experiences to help others.

She said it was "clear" he had "traumatic experiences in childhood and early adulthood" as well as serious mental health problems.

A restraining order banning him from contacting the woman was also made.