Thug with baseball bat went on hair salon wrecking spree

Omari Campbell was angry that his partner had started taking their son to the hairdressers in Stafford Street, Walsall while he was in prison.

A furious Campbell burst through the front door of the shop smashing windows and barber Cyprion Saintville fled out the back, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

"She had gone there regularly and had become reasonably friendly with Mr Saintville," Mr Gurdeep Garcha, prosecuting, said.

"She then told him that her partner was in prison and was unhappy that the child's hair was being cut there.

"Unsurprisingly, Mr Saintville said he no longer wished to have the boy as a customer."

Campbell took his son to the salon in Stafford Street where each had their hair cut without incident, the court heard.

But on June 28, Mr Saintville got a threatening phone call from Campbell and 20 minutes later he saw him heading towards the shop that was empty at the time.

Mr Garcha continued: "Glass in the front door was smashed and, worried for his own safety, he fled out the back listening to the sound of more glass being broken as he went."

Police were called, arrested Campbell in the street close by and found the baseball bat. He told officers that he had gone to the salon in a temper because of an ongoing dispute with his partner.

Campbell from Old Park Road, Wednesbury pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage.

He was jailed for eight months by Judge Mark Eades who told him: "It is a serious offence to carry weapons in a public place with the intention of causing a person harm."

The 27-year-old defendant was also ordered to pay £639 compensation to cover the cost of the damage.