Leeds machete thug threatened to kill ex while kicking down her door
He was convicted after a trial
A thug who tried to kick down his ex partner’s door in while armed with a machete and making threats to kill has been spared immediate custody.
Enraged Luke Collett then brandished the weapon at passers-by, Leeds Crown Court heard.
The 27-year-old was convicted after a trial of stalking, making threats to kill, possession of a bladed article and criminal damage.
He appeared in court over a video link from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand, but received a suspended sentence.
The couple had an “on/off” relationship for around seven years and have a daughter together, the court was told.
But in the space of a week in February this year he tried to call her 65 times from an unknown number.
Then at around 12.30am on February 18 he turned up at her home in Seacroft banging on her door.
He became irate and told her: “When I get through this door I’m going to kill you.”
The woman said she was left terrified that Collett would break in after the top panel of the door came away.
She opened a window and told him to leave.
Two men on motorbikes then passed by and Collett switched his attention to them, pulling the machete out of his trousers and shouting: “Come on then.”
He was arrested a short time later and the machete was found discarded in a garden near to his former partner’s home.
At the police station he became irate and refused to be interviewed.
In a victim impact statement, read out to the court, the woman said she lived in “constant fear and emotional distress” and was “constantly on edge”.
Collett, of Hansby Avenue, Seacroft, has 10 previous convictions including domestic-related offences.
Mitigating, Philip Morris said Collett had issues with ADHD and an unstable-personality disorder.
He said he had undergone a “period of reflection” in custody and said he could receive help from probation, should he be freed.
The judge, Recorder Dapinder Singh KC, pointed out that Collett had chances to address his issues with his previous convictions, to which Mr Morris replied: “It’s not a magic wand.”
Recorder Singh told Collett: “This kind of offending is truly unacceptable in every way.”
He gave Collett a 15-month sentence, suspended for 24 months, and ordered him to complete 25 rehabilitation days with probation.
He was also given a five-year restraining order to stay away from his ex partner.