Machete waving teenager from Wolverhampton locked up
A teenage tearaway who left a trail of destruction in his wake after taking a beating from a friend has been locked up for 21 months.
Brandon Bradley and a friend had a minor disagreement at a party that exploded into violence as they walked home during the early hours of June 2, a judge heard.
The 19-year-old came off worst, losing a tooth and ending up with both eyes badly bruised, swollen and partially closed.
He was determined to show people he was not somebody to be messed about and collected a machete from his home in Old Heath Road, Moseley, Wolverhampton - the street in which he was injured, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Bradley used the weapon to repeatedly to bang on, and damage with stab marks, the front door of the nearby home of his friend, which was opened by his mother, explained Mr Christopher O'Gorman, prosecuting.
The defendant demanded "get your son out here" as she pushed him down the path away from the address until a neighbour spotted the struggle and tried unsuccessfully to disarm the teenager.
Bradley fled, damaging the front gate and fence of another house in Deansfield Road while being pursued by the neighbour and ran into St Giles Road where he partially demolished a garden shed by running across its roof, continued the prosecutor.
The defendant was found hiding in a garden with the machete which was taken from him. The friend declined to support the prosecution of the case.
Mr Jon Roe, defending, said: "The two men involved are both good friends and had been at a party where there was a minor disagreement.
"This led to a clash in the street after which he got the machete to ensure people realised he was not somebody to be messed about.
"There are numerous ways in which he could have dealt with this much better but he has a habit of acting rashly."
Bradley, who had a string of previous convictions dating back to when he was 15, pleaded guilty to affray, possession of a bladed article and criminal damage.
He was sentenced to 21 months detention in a Young Offenders Institution by Judge Simon Ward who told him: "You have a long history of previous convictions for your age and each time a court gave you assistance to change your behaviour it failed."
