Man spared jail term for swinging a machete at a householder after being challenged about his ‘suspicious behaviour’ in Kineton

A man who got out of his car brandishing a machete which he then swung at a householder after being challenged about his ‘suspicious behaviour’ has escaped being jailed.

Razvan Radu had pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article during the frightening confrontation in a Kineton cul-de-sac in the early hours of the morning.

But Radu (31) of Mint Drive, Birmingham, was sentenced to 10 months in prison suspended for 12 months and was ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and to pay £340 costs.

Prosecutor Omar Majid said that at half past midnight on April 5 Radu, who had a female passenger in his BMW, drove into a quiet cul-de-sac in Kineton.

A householder believed he was acting suspiciously as he kept turning the car lights on and off, so went out and asked him what he was doing.

Radu said he was looking for an address, but it was not one the villager recognised.

So to try to get him to leave, he pointed out to Radu that there were CCTV cameras covering his vehicle.

There was a verbal exchange between them, and the man, believing Radu was about to fight him, shouted to a neighbour for help and to call the police.

Radu began to reverse away, but after going just 20 feet, he stopped and got out brandishing a machete he had taken from the back of the car and swung it at him.

The man’s neighbour came out and said the police were on their way, at which Radu got back into his car and drove off.

When he was stopped and arrested on the M6, officers found a two-foot machete in the car.

Explaining his presence in the cul-de-sac, Radu said he had been dropping his girlfriend off at a friend’s house and had got the wrong road.

Mr Majid added that as a result of the incident the householder says he has been suffering flashbacks and panic attacks.

Ragveer Chand, defending, conceded: “The best point in mitigation is that he pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.”

He said the incident had been out of character for Radu, who was described as ‘a trustworthy man’ and was spoken of in ‘very positive terms’ in character references read by the judge.

Sentencing Radu, Judge Peter Cooke told him: “I think you have been in the United Kingdom for about six years now.

“If you were under any delusions about the dim view we take in this country of people who carry knives and machetes in public, you certainly know now.

“But I accept that for you to behave in an unlawful fashion was entirely out of character.

“You did get out of your car and introduce a machete into an already tense situation, which was a stupid thing to do.

“As someone of your build, you did not need to reach for something like that to make an imposing figure of yourself.

“You are a graduate in engineering. I am going to take it that you have made a very grave mistake, but that you have the intelligence to learn from it.”