A Rugby man who slashed the tyres of a car and then lunged at the owner with the ‘nasty weapon’ has been jailed for 21 months.
Richard Slack, 23, of Bath Street, had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to two charges of causing criminal damage and one of threatening with a bladed article.
Prosecutor Graeme Simpson said shortly after 9pm on June 13 last year Pawel Zabek and his partner were in their home in Bond Street, Rugby, when they heard a disturbance outside.
They looked out and saw Slack by their car, and as Mr Zabek was about to go outside to check what was going on, his partner told him Slack had just slashed the tyres.
Mr Zabek, who was followed out by his dog, walked towards the car and asked Slack what he was doing.
Slack, who by then was sitting on a bike and had his Staffordshire terrier with him, responded by asking him if he wanted the dogs to fight.
Mr Simpson added: “The defendant got off the bike and went towards Mr Zabek and threw a punch, which he managed to avoid.
“Mr Zabek then saw a knife taken by the defendant from his pocket, and he turned side-on to the defendant who thrust the blade towards him.
“Mr Zabek blocked it and grabbed the defendant’s wrist and managed to disarm him and ran back into the house.”
But Slack, having picked up what was a sharp scraper rather than a knife, began banging on the door, smashing the glass and forcing it open, although he did not go inside.
He then left, but when the police arrived they followed a trail of blood back to the block of flats where he lived.
When he was arrested Slack, who had convictions for offences including robbery and possessing a bladed article, claimed he had not done anything.
William Douglas-Jones, defending, said Slack, who had been in custody for seven months, had struggled to cope with the sudden death of his father in 2014, and had a long-standing drug problem.
He also said Slack had been suffering from stress and anxiety and had found it difficult to engage with the probation officer over a video link from prison.
Jailing Slack, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told him: “Pawel Zabek and his partner were at their home, and she looks out and sees you with an article in your hand. It was sharp, and you slashed their tyres with it.
“He went out and told you to go away, and you swung a fist and you then produced that item.
“I know it was a scraper, but it was sharp enough to cut the walls of his tyres, and you lunged at him with it.
“This scraper is a nasty weapon, capable of causing serious damage to tyres – and to someone. It was not just carried, it was used when you made an attempt to stab Mr Zabek.”
