Homeless man jailed for threatening delivery driver in Telford with hammer
A homeless Telford man who threatened a delivery driver with a hammer before going onto to shout homophobic abuse at an arresting police officer has been jailed for nine months.
Darren Edwards, aged 46, said he was off his medication when he threatened the van driver in King Street, Dawley on January 10 this year, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on Friday.
The delivery driver had stopped in the street to make a delivery to a dentist at around 10.30am, Ms Rosemary Proctor prosecuting told the court.
She said as the driver walked to the dentist, the defendant had approached his van and hit it with a hammer.
As the driver went back to the van, Edwards swung the hammer at him, adding that while he missed, the driver fell on some ice.
Ms Proctor added that he managed to get back into the van but Edwards struck the van again with the hammer, smashing the side window.
She told the court the driver of the van reported being “very scared” following the incident.
She then said that after Edwards was picked up by police, he began hurling “homophobic abuse” at a police officer in the custody suite by calling him “Gay boy”.
The court heard that Edwards, who admitted four charges of make threats with an offensive weapon in a public place, affray, criminal damage and a public order offence, had 41 previous convictions for 122 offences.
Representing himself, Edwards told Judge Deni Mathews he was “sorry” for his behaviour, adding he was off his medication and homeless at the time of the incident. He said that while in prison he had been seeking help with his mental health.
The judge said he believed his remorse was genuine but added that the offending had been aggravated by Edwards previous criminal past.
He also added that “homophobic abuse to an officer in the course of his duty” could not be tolerated.
He jailed Edwards for nine months.