Machete threat court told of row in Telford street
Two brothers accused of arming themselves with a machete and an iron bar before threatening a neighbour in a row over a parking space said their parents needed it because they were so ill, a court heard.
Dennis Brooks and David Brown started arguing outside their homes in a normally quiet Telford street after Mr Brown's wife Lorraine came home from the gym and parked in one of five communal bays.
Dennis Brooks told police that after Mr Brown asked him 'what his problem was' he had tried to explain that his father had suffered three heart attacks and needed to park close to their home.
Brooks said in a statement read out at Shrewsbury Crown Court that his family had been using the space in Princess Anne Gardens, Dawley, for the past 13 years.
That all changed, Brooks said, when the Browns bought a new car and started parking there.
After the row on June 10 this year, Dennis Brooks and his older brother Christopher Brooks are accused of arming themselves with a nine-inch black machete and two-foot iron bar and threatening Mr Brown outside his home.
Christopher Brooks, 26, and Dennis Brooks, 21, of Princess Anne Gardens, both deny possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. Christopher Brooks, who was said to be waving the machete in a menacing manner, also denies an alternative charge of possessing an article with a blade or sharp point.
Mr Brendan Reedy, cross-examining Mr Brown in the witness stand, for Dennis Brooks, said: "Can you remember him (Dennis) trying to explain that his mum and dad were poorly, that his dad had three heart attacks and that he liked to park there if he could?"
"No," Mr Brown replied.
He told the court: "There are five car parking spaces so if there is one free you park there."
The trial continues.