lenient or whatA man who threatened a taxi driver with a knife after overhearing a row between the cabbie and his mother has been spared jail.
Elliot Claxton, 21, came out of his home with a kitchen knife on hearing the commotion as his mother was dropped off at their home on Balmoral Avenue, Thornaby.
He shouted “get out of here”, made threats and waved the knife, said prosecutor Jenny Haigh today.
The driver feared for his safety but Claxton was taken back inside the house, Teesside Crown Court heard.
He told police he heard arguing outside and picked up a kitchen knife wanting to protect his mum, who had taken the taxi from a Stockton social club at about 1.30am.
He said he went outside, stood in front of the taxi and told the driver to leave. He accepted threatening him but denied threatening to stab him.
Magistrates previously heard allegations of racial slurs on both sides in a “very upsetting exchange” during the taxi drop-off on January 14.
Claxton admitted a charge of threatening a person with a blade in a public place, for which he faced a potential minimum sentence of six months’ imprisonment. His six previous offences included threatening behaviour and assault when he was a youth, but he had no convictions as an adult.
Sarah Lish, defending, said Claxton was candid with police, accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
She said Claxton “took up arms” with a background of special educational needs and witnessing “regular, almost daily, violent outbursts” between his parents, including using knives to threaten each other.
The court heard he had been diagnosed with Deficits in Attention, Motor Control and Perception (DAMP) causing impulsive behaviour, with references also made to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The Probation Service believed they could tackle his behaviour.
Claxton wanted to work, had obtained a City and Guilds qualification in vehicle maintenance and repairs and had the prospect of a future job at a garage, said Ms Lish.
Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, told Claxton: “It’s right to say that this was a situation which came to you rather than the other way around. It came to you because your mother was having a row with a taxi driver.
“Taxi drivers are entitled to the protection of the courts because they carry out a public service.
“The offence of carrying a knife in any circumstances is one which will always be treated seriously by this court and particularly by myself.
“However I turn to the circumstances of you.
“You are someone with many problems and that requires you to have the service of an appropriate adult, today your father.
“I also take into account the turbulent nature of your upbringing.”
He decided it would be unjust to impose the minimum jail term, passing an 145-day prison sentence suspended for 18 months with 25 days’ rehabilitation activity and a tagged six-month curfew between 8pm and 7am.
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