Leeds crossbow-stand-off villager handed suspended sentence after year on remand
A man who threatened police with a crossbow during a three-hour standoff has been given a suspended sentence - having spent more than a year on remand.
Simon Munro, who suffers from schizophrenia, had to be persuaded to drop the weapon as officers surrounded the property in Allerton Bywater in October last year.
He was freed this week after a judge at Leeds Crown Court opted to suspend the inevitable custodial sentence.
Munro, who turned 42 this week, admitted a charge of affray, but delays over psychiatric assessments meant he was kept locked up at HMP Leeds.
The court previously heard that Munro armed himself with the deadly weapon after an argument with his partner on October 22 last year.
She left the property and went to sit in her car, hoping he would calm down.
She then went back into the property on Woodside Grove, Allerton Bywater, and found Munro at the top of the stairs armed with the crossbow.
She ran out of the house again. Munro sent her messages threatening to use the weapon on anyone who came into the house. She then phoned the police and her son who also arrived at the scene.
When armed police arrived, Munro refused to come out of his house.
He eventually did by throwing the crossbow from a window. It was found that the string from the weapon was missing, leaving it inoperable in any case.
Having been arrested, he gave a prepared statement during his interview accepting that he barricaded himself into the house, saying he felt threatened by the woman’s son.
The court heard that Munro had long battled with schizophrenia, which was exacerbated by his cannabis use coupled with a failure to take his prescribed medication.
Mitigating, Eleanor Durdy said Munro has no previous convictions and was “not criminally minded”.
She said he was now medicated and was more stable, having been cannabis-free for over a year.
Another barrister representing Munro at an earlier hearing said Munro was unwell and had been “going through an episode” at the time.
He added: “He felt paranoid and believed he was going to be attacked. When the police attended, he thought he was going to be shot.”
The judge, Recorder Tony Watkin said that Munro had “made progress” while on remand.
He gave him a 22-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation days with probation and a three-month drug rehabilitation requirement.