Mansfield swordsman wore red Batman onesie to town centre dispute

A Mansfield man wore a red Batman onesie and brandished a sword while helping his brother chase a man through the town centre in the afternoon, a court heard.
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CCTV captured Tyrone Pearson swing the sword once, as his brother repeatedly swung a metal baseball bat, to threaten the man, on Newgate Lane, at 1.45pm on March 27.

Prosecutor Simon Rowe said: “This defendant seems to be there for back-up to frighten the individual they were confronting.”

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CCTV showed their intended victim run off, and then return and argue with the pair.

“In interview, he gave a full and frank admission,” said Mr Rowe. “He said he had been with his brother. They had been to a man’s address and it seems an argument had developed over his brother’s clothes.”

He said Pearson and his brother had returned to his brother’s home, where they “heard kicking at the door and thought it was the man they had argued with.”

“He claimed the other man had a weapon, but the footage doesn’t show that,” Mr Rowe said.

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“He made up a cock and bull story to start with, but when he saw the CCTV he saw sense and apologised for not telling the truth.

“He said he did it to protect his brother. He didn’t intend to use the sword and just wanted to intimidate this person.”

Probation officer Mark Burton said Pearson had shown “suspect thinking skills” and “misplaced loyalty to his brother”.

He said Pierson is the full-time carer for his partner, and faces eviction because of rent arrears.

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Morgan Hogarth, mitigating, said Pearson was thrown the sword by his brother, from where it had been on display in the living room.

“He swung it, he didn’t do much,” he said, adding the confrontation was not planned and Pearson had been wearing “a red onesie with Batman decorations” at the time.

Pearson, 28, of Perlthorpe Avenue, Meden Vale, admitted threatening behaviour and possession of a blade, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on July 16.

On July 18, district judge Jonathan Taaffe said: “This is a scene that would not be out of place in a film.

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“Broad daylight, in the middle of the afternoon, and you’re wandering around Mansfield town centre with a sword in the company of your brother who has a baseball bat, clearly involved in a dispute with a third party.

“The only things that save you from going immediately to custody is that you have never troubled the police or the courts before, you have domestic responsibilities and, to some extent, this appears to be a dispute between your brother and a third party in which you have unwisely taken part.”

For possession of the weapon he gave Pearson 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. He added eight weeks, suspended for 12 months, for the threatening behaviour. Pearson was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £115 government surcharge.

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