Derbyshire man swung axe at pals and threatened to bite bystander's nose off

Witnesses said Leonard Allen was in ‘heated discussion’ with the two men on Corporation Street, just after midnight on March 2, this year, while also ‘laughing and having a joke.’

But then he reached into a JD Sports carrier for the axe, lunged at them and began swinging it before losing his balance, dropping it on the floor and retrieving it.

He was seen to brandish it in a threatening manner before jumping into a taxi on Cavendish Street, said prosecutor Nicola Patten.

Allen, aged 41, was intercepted by a police dog unit on Stephenson Place, and denied the incident, claiming he had been assaulted ‘by two unknown males.’

Derby Crown Court heard he was arrested in a separate incident on September 14, last year, after slapping his partner. When a bystander intervened, Allen shoved him, spat blood in his face and threatened to bite his nose off.

On the way to the police station he spat in the van and kicked the cage walls. He repeatedly slapped a police officer's hand off him and shouted: “Get your f****** hands away.”

The court heard he and his partner had been drinking energy drinks and smoking cannabis in a field.

He has 25 previous convictions for 47 offences prior to these, including possessing a blade in 2003, and two assaults on police officers in 2009.

He has ‘a large number of dishonesty offences’ and was jailed for just under three years in 2020 for burglary.

Lesley Pidcock, mitgating, said his record was typical of someone addicted to class A drugs but he has been clean for four-and-a-half years.

She said he has struggled with the death of his brother and his mother’s ill health.

“He is now picking up the pieces for having abused his body for a long time,” Ms Pidcock said. “He is crying out for support and assistance.”

Allen, of Orchard Close, Bolsover, admitted making threats with a blade in a public place, battery, assaulting an emergency worker, and criminal damage.

On Wednesday, Recorder Sarah McKeown sentenced him to 14 months, suspended for 18 months, with a 31-day programme and 20 rehabilitation days.