Three men who broke down the door of a house and threatened the occupants with a rounders bat were yesterday sentenced at Oxford Crown Court.
Gary Spiers, 46, Russell Nightingale, 28, and Mark Magee, 39, burst into a house in Farm Close, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, in April, and threatened Lorraine Cooper and her daughter, Tara O’Sullivan. All three admitted affray.
Lucy Tapper, prosecuting, said the men shouted abuse and referred to Ms Cooper’s son setting fire to a car and a house.
She said: “She (Ms Cooper) told them immediately she did not have a son.”
Ms Cooper said he (Nightingale) was scaring her, Ms Tapper added. The court heard the men had mental health issues.
Matthew Corrie, defending Spiers, who was armed with the bat, said he was “suggestible”.
Henry James, defending Nightingale, said he was the victim of bullying.
Ben Narain, defending Magee, said he was not directly involved in violence.
Spiers, of Thomson Terrace, Littlemore, was jailed for 12 months, Magee, of Coltsfoot Square, Oxford, for 15 months and Nightingale, of Crowmarsh Gifford caravan park, was given a four month curfew and ordered to do 80 hours unpaid work.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here