Terrified young girl was in 'fits of tears' after stranger told mum he'd planted bomb on their car, court told
The woman was so scared he had actually carried out the threat she didn’t drive off
A Ludlow man threatened to blow up a police station then stopped a complete stranger’s car before terrifying the woman and her young daughter by saying he had planted a bomb on the vehicle, a court heard.
Night shift worker Leo Evans, who is 24, was suffering a mental health crisis, having been drinking, and made the remarks in a “cry for help”, his lawyer told Telford Magistrates Court.
Evans, of Chestnut Grove, called police himself in the very early hours of January 22 last year and began making threats, prosecutor Alisha Collins told the court on Wednesday (July 15).
“Police received a phone call from the defendant and he, at the time of the phone call, was threatening to bomb the police station and he wanted to harm others,” she said.
“Subsequently the defendant has then gone to the victim in this case, he has approached her car, stopped her car, and he has threatened to place a bomb on her car.
“This has caused her distress and resulted in her calling the police to report the matter.”
The prosecutor read a statement from one of the officers who attended which said Evans called police soon after midnight to say he “wanted to hurt others and was struggling to control his anger”.
Ms Collins said that minutes later the woman who had been approached called police herself, saying “he was terrifying both the driver and her young daughter by threatening to place a bomb on her vehicle”.
The court heard the woman was reluctant to leave her vehicle or drive off for fear he had actually made good on his threat.
The woman’s young daughter, who was in the car, was in “fits of tears” by this point.
‘Not coping very well’
Police arrested Evans and he subsequently pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to a single count of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of violence.
Mitigating for Evans, Kate Cooper told the court the defendant made the threats “for effect” and had no intention of hurting anybody.
“He was under the influence of alcohol at the time and he was in mental health crisis.
“He had no intention of carrying out those threats. He understands this would be very distressing.
“He wanted help, this was a real cry for help from him.”
Ms Cooper said Evans’s mental health had suffered throughout 2024, especially following the breakdown of a relationship, and he was “not coping very well and using alcohol”.
But, she said, his arrest was a “real wake-up call for him”.
“He sought help and he has stopped drinking, he has maintained that throughout the last 18 months while he was being investigated.”
The magistrates handed down a 12-month community order, with requirements Evans carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
He must also pay £100 in compensation to the woman he threatened, a £114 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.
Magistrate Maxine Taplin told Evans: “You caused quite a lot of fear to an unrelated person and there was a child with her at the time.”