Mansfield man jailed after drunken knife threats to pensioner neighbour

Ted Dennington used the weapon to knock on the front door of a 70-year-old man’s home, yelling: “Get out here,” Nottingham Crown Court heard [TUES].

The OAP looked out of his security spy hole and spotted Dennington in an incident lasting over ten minutes on July 10.

Simon Eckersley, prosecuting, said: “As he watched, he saw Mr Dennington begin swearing and shouting to himself.

“He later saw his neighbour lying in the road, directly in front of his house. He said the whole incident was plainly a very frightening experience. He said ‘I just want a quiet, peaceful life.’”

Dennington, 59, of Shirland Avenue, Mansfield pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour and having an offensive weapon in public.

Judge Gregory Dickinson QC ordered the destruction of the kitchen knife, describing it as “sturdy” with a six-inch blade. He said that grandfather Dennington had been in court several times before for having offensive weapons in public.

“This is the same again,” said the judge, adding: “It is clear you were drunk. Every time you commit offences like this not only do you harm members of the public, you harm yourself and you harm your family.

“You caused serious alarm and distress,” he told Dennington who appeared via a video link from prison.

David Watts, mitigating, said Dennington had been at a pub with two relatives that day. He had two glasses of Guinness and a brandy, “which was quite normal.”

Mr Watts told the judge: “I discussed it with him and he genuinely has no recollection of the incident. He has no explanation as to why things happened the way they did that day.

“He did speculate as whether his drinks had been spiked. But there is no evidence of that.

“All he can think as to why this happened is that there have been problems with some neighbour in regards to loud music being played.”

But he wanted to apologise to the pensioner and is “targeting no criticism at him.”

Dennington had been helping his brother who is a driver and hopes to get similar work when a roads ban has ended. He has four children and six grandchildren.

After 28 years of marriage, his wife died nine years ago. Dennington has a disability because he is suffering from “a crumbling back, arthritis in his hands and a stomach ulcer,” added Mr Watts.