Chesterfield man smashed neighbour’s door clutching a knife in “mad moment”

Tony Baxter’s “mad moment” was sparked by his neighbour’s teenage son singing “you’re so sexy” in the front garden of his home.

Prosecutor Rosie McDaid described how after threatening the woman and her son, enraged Baxter, 34, grabbed a “large” kitchen knife from his kitchen.

Ms McDaid said: “He went around to the address and started banging on the door - he smashed the glass with this right fist.

“He held a knife in his left hand and was shouting ‘you’re dead’.”

The prosecutor said Baxter - unable to gain entry to his neighbour’s house through the locked door - eventually left, throwing tiles and smashing glass as he left.

Baxter, who had no previous convictions, was later arrested by police.

His neighbour said in a statement read out to the court: “I really thought Tony was going to get into my home. I’m worried about what will happen when he is released.

“I’m due to move soon and cannot wait to get away for a new start.”

However Nadine Wilford, Baxter’s solicitor, said the incident was begun by his neighbours “calling his partner names”.

She said Baxter’s fellow residents were shouting and “ultimately coming out with a baseball bat and threatening to burn his house down and kill his children”.

“It was a mad moment - he picked up the knife purely for self-defence - the neighbour was swinging a baseball bat and threatening to smash his windows, said Ms Wilford.

Ms Wilford described how Baxter’s neighbour’s teenage son had further angered him by stating “I’ll have him”.

The solicitor added that her client had never been in trouble before and the incident was a “moment of madness”.

Baxter, of Manor Court Road, Bolsover, admitted affray and possessing a bladed article in a public place.

A magistrate told him: “This offending is so serious that custody has to be an option - this could have escalated into something where both parties could have received serious injuries.”

The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report.

A message from Phil Bramley, Derbyshire Times Editor: Support your Derbyshire Times by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe