Further delays in Leeds-village crossbow stand-off case that involved armed police
The sentencing of a man who threatened to shoot police with a crossbow has been delayed again as he continues to wait for a psychiatric assessment.
Armed officers spent three hours attempting to coax Simon Munro from his house on Woodside Grove in Allerton Bywater in October.
He has admitted affray and was due to be sentence at Leeds Crown Court, but concerns remain about conflicting recommendations for how he should be sentenced.
He was due to be sentenced in May with a probation report suggesting he could be given a community sentence and freed, rather than remain in custody.
This was in contrast to a psychiatric report suggesting he should be given a hospital order and held in secure unit to receive treatment.
The judge in May called for a new psychiatric report, but when the 41-year-old appeared again last week, no follow-up assessment had been conducted.
He will remain on remand at HMP Leeds and will now be sentenced on August 6 in the hope that the new report will be completed.
Munro has a long history of schizophrenia and had stopped taking his medication at the time of the incident, the court heard.
Munro armed himself with the deadly weapon after an argument with his partner on October 22.
She left the property and went to sit in her car, hoping he would calm down. She then went back into the property 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, he refused to come out of his house.
Officers spent three hours trying to persuade him to give up the crossbow. He eventually did by throwing it out of a window.
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.
He said the crossbow also had no string attached, rendering it useless.
Mitigating, Imran Khan said that Munro had no previous convictions. He said he was unwell at the time and “going through an episode”.
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.”