20 March 2023 , 16:06
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A mechanic enraged over a parking row drunkenly smashed down his neighbours' front door with a sledgehammer and threatened to 'kill him'.
Bruce and Lynn High were left terrified when their neighbour, Matthew Fox, drunkenly and violently tried to force his way through the door of the home in the early hours of July 3.
As he tried to smash his way through, he could be heard shouting "I'm gonna kill you" and, addressing their son, "tell your dad I'm gonna kill him".
Preston Crown Court heard that Fox and the Highs were neighbours in Chatburn, Clitheroe, but for some time didn't know each other very well, Lancs Live reports.
Prosecuting, Philip Holden explained that Fox, 31, worked as a mobile mechanic and would regularly park his work van outside the High's home.
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The terrifying incident happened on Ribblesdale View in Chatburn, Clitheroe (Google Maps)When they decided they wanted to sell their house, they asked him if would mind parking elsewhere to avoid putting off potential buyers.
At first, this was adhered to but after a few days, Fox returned to using the same space. At 6.30pm on July 2, Mr High went to Fox's house to ask again. He knocked and the door and but received no answer.
During the subsequent evening, Fox went out and reached a level of drunkenness he described to police as being at an eight on a scale of 1-10. When he returned home, he went to his van and brought out a sledgehammer and a smaller hammer.
Mr Holden said: "He took them to the house and he battered the front door with a view to getting access to the house.
"When he was smashing the door down he was shouting at them 'I'm going to kill you, open the door, I'm going to kill you'. Then addressing Mr High's son, 'tell your dad I'm going to kill him'."
The spectacle continued for around 15-20 during which time Mrs High made a frightened call to 999. Police attended and arrested Fox who admitted what he had done in interview and said he was "drunk and mad".
In victim impact statements, the Highs discussed how the incident had left them scared and unable to sleep, while Mrs High said she had suffered nightmares for six months and that she feared hearing any noise at the door.
The couple have since spent more than £1,000 on cameras and a security system.
Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said the High family could bear no blame in how they had behaved and that what happened when he "bashed" the door down was "quite terrifying".
He added that what happened was out of character for Fox.
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Fox, of Ribblesdale View, was given an eight month sentence suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £3,000 in compensation.