Yob threatened Black Country van driver with an axe during parking road rage row

Joseph Dunn waved the axe in the air several times as he shouted at a van driver who had beeped his horn after being blocked in by the 19-year-old's sister's car in Caldmore Green on February 21, this year.

The entire incident was captured on camera by the van driver's dashcam with the footage being shown at Wolverhampton Crown Court. 

He could be seen leaning into his sister's Nissan Micra and asking to be passed something from inside. He then produced an axe and whilst shouting at the van driver brandished the weapon.

Dunn, of Somerfield Road, Bloxwich, pleaded guilty to threatening a person with an axe in a public place and possessing an axe in a public place. Dunn told detectives who arrested him shortly after the incident he was protecting his sister and was sorry for brandishing the axe, which he claimed was his brother-in-law's who uses it as a scrap merchant.

In mitigation, the court heard Dunn reacted angrily due to being concerned about his pregnant sister who had previously been injured in a car crash. 

Diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety Dunn also reacts badly to loud noises. He was at college learning to be a mechanic but was suspended when West Midlands Police informed them about his impending court case.

Recorder Simon Hughes sentenced Dunn to eight months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to attend 30 rehabilitation days and undertake 150 hours unpaid work in the community.

He said: "This was a disgraceful piece of public disorder, you were in broad day light surrounded by people going about their daily business. There would have been children and women nearby and anyone who saw this would have been extremely distressed."

He added: "You chose to escalate this conflict beyond any justifiable level by producing an axe on the public highway. This meets the custody threshold but I do believe there is the prospect of rehabilitation so I am suspending the sentence. I also have to take into account the pressure on the prison system at this time. You were very close to being sent to prison."