Man brandished hammer at Portsmouth petrol station in feud

A MAN has been given a suspended prison sentence for brandishing a hammer at a man following a five-year feud.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Jan 2016, 06:06 GMT

Stuart Simmons, 33, of Falmouth Road, Paulsgrove, Portsmouth, was at a petrol station when he took it out.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard Simmons feared for his own safety after seeing John Scott at Portsbridge Service Station in Portsmouth Road on June 10 last year.

No details of the feud were given at the court hearing.

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Handing Simmons a six-month jail term suspended for a year, judge Claudia Ackner said: ‘You overstepped the mark. You reacted quite inappropriately.’

She added: ‘It may well be that you feared for your own safety.

‘But that didn’t justify you getting a hammer and brandishing it.

‘It caused a lot of fear for people around.’

The judge gave Simmons a six-month medium drug rehabilitation requirement with 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

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Addressing Simmons, the judge added: ‘You have reached a crossroads in your life.’

Simmons pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

The court heard he works hard but has a drug problem.