Colchester father-of-ten pulled knife on neighbour as kids watched on

Phil Wells, of Valentinus Crescent, Colchester, appeared in court on Tuesday for sentencing after admitting in June last year to affray and threatening someone with a weapon in a private place.

The court heard how Wells, 43, had been in a heated argument with his partner who was shouting at the defendant to get out and leave her alone.

The defendant’s partner ran to the address owned by her neighbour, Mr Wright, and asked him for help.

Threat – the court heard how Wells threatened his neighbour, Mr Wright, with a knife (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Wright then accompanied the woman to Wells’ house, knocked on the door, and asked if everything was alright.

Wells, whose had two distressed children the house with him, then came to the door and told Mr Wright he was going to get a knife and stab him.

In response, Mr Wright’s wife then gave him a baseball bat to defend himself.

His Honour Judge Kelly said: “All of this incident was unfolding in an incredibly distasteful way coincided with your brother and sister-in-law turning up.

“You said ‘I will take your dog and burn your house down with you and your family in’.

“It ended up with him having to punch you in self-defence.

“You got up from the punch and continued to make threats and tried to gain access to his house and climbed over the rear garden fence.”

Motivated – Judge Kelly said Wells had shown conviction and determination to overcome his drug addiction (Image: Newsquest)

Stephen Dyble, mitigating, said Wells, who runs a window cleaning business in Colchester, had been suffering from a drugs relapse because of the stress involved in caring for his elderly mother who has dementia, and, as a coping mechanism, consumed cocaine and alcohol.

In his concluding remarks, Judge Kelly told Wells that although he had 31 offences to his name, he had still taken steps to address his addiction "with conviction and determination".

He added: “You are very motivated to progress your abstinence.”

Judge Kelly spared Wells custody; instead, he handed him an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, citing the business he needs to run to care for his ten children and elderly mother.

Wells must complete 25 rehabilitation requirement days, 120 days of alcohol abstinence monitoring requirements, and 100 hours of unpaid work.