Man Jailed for Knife Threat to Mother Claims “Cheese” Defence

A 43-year-old Flintshire man has been jailed after threatening his mother with a knife and later claiming he was only going to “cut cheese” with it. 🔪

Martin Bradley, of Forest Drive, Broughton, appeared at Mold Crown Court yesterday where he received a prison sentence of two years and four months for threatening a person with a bladed article in a private place, plus an additional two consecutive months for drink driving.

The court heard that after a relationship breakdown, Bradley moved back in with his mother in Horton, Staffordshire, where he “abused her hospitality” by spending approximately £200 on her bank card on January 12.

Later that day, witnesses spotted him purchasing vodka from a garage. Police attempted to follow him, but he rammed a patrol car before being found asleep in his vehicle with a false registration plate. He was more than three times over the legal alcohol limit.

Six days later, on January 18, while released under investigation, Bradley was involved in another incident outside his mother’s home. After requiring three people to remove him from a vehicle, he entered his mother’s house and retrieved a knife from the kitchen.

Prosecutor Amy Edwards told the court: “He raised the knife about 20cm from her neck.” The court also heard that he bent back his mother’s fingers.

In a statement, Mrs Bradley, who lost her husband last year, said she “dreads every day” with the defendant and feels “intimidated and bullied in her own home.”

Defence lawyer Gareth Bellis stated: “It must be one of the most difficult things in a mother’s life to watch her son sink into total chaos due to alcohol.”

The court heard that Bradley, an alcoholic since age 17, is now drug and alcohol free while on remand at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, where he is training to become a drug and alcohol counsellor.

The judge imposed a five-year restraining order to protect Mrs Bradley and disqualified the defendant from driving for five years and three months. Bradley was also ordered to pay a £228 court surcharge as compensation to his mother. 💷