Furious Mansfield man slashed dad and brother with knives in both hands

A Mansfield man was "completely out of control" when he burst into his family living room with a knife in each hand and slashed his dad and brother, a court has heard.
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Shay Holahan began fighting his father after his sister pleaded with him not to drive because he was too drunk, prosecutor David Eager told Nottingham Crown Court.

The 34-year-old grabbed two knives from the kitchen and began hacking at the door after his dad shut it and completely snapped the door handle off.

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"I'm going to f****** kill him," he shouted as he burst into the living room through a different door with the eight-inch blades pointing upwards.

Nottingham Crown Court.Nottingham Crown Court.
Nottingham Crown Court.

Holahan swung a roundhouse blow which his father deflected but ended up cutting his brother in the ribs. The wound bled so heavily it had to be stitched at hospital.

He then slashed his father in the wrist, inflicting an inch-long wound. Another member of the family was able to subdue him until the police arrived.

The court heard that earlier on March 5, last year, Holahan attacked a taxi on Southwell Road East, Rainworth. He began screaming and shouting, punched out a window and snapped off the indicator stalk and wing-mirror, before the driver managed to flee.

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Fergus Malone, mitigating, said there was "ongoing tension in the family" because Holahan's brother refused to apologise for breaking his leg, and this cost him his job as a health and fitness manager.

He said the defendant, who had no previous convictions, was in conflict with his father after witnessing him being violent towards his mother.

Mr Malone described the former prison officer and Royal Navy warfare specialist, as a “placid man” who was unlikely to trouble the courts again.

Holahan, formerly of Ranson Road, Rainworth, and now of Bank End Close, Mansfield, pleaded guilty to two counts of malicious wounding on the day of his trial, and two counts of criminal damage at an earlier hearing.

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Recorder William Edis QC told him: “I am not sure what has made you so ungovernably angry.

"If your brother had been unlucky he would be dead. And you would be heading downstairs.”

On Friday, Holahan received a 21-month sentence, suspended for two years, with 25 rehabilitation days and 60 hours of unpaid work. He must pay £1,500 court costs.

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