Telford machete car row brother is spared jail
A man who held a machete during a row over a parking space outside a house in Telford has been spared jail.
Christopher Brooks, 26, of Arleston Brook, Wellington, had previously been found guilty of possessing an article with a blade or sharp point after he and his brother Dennis, 21, got into a row with David Brown over use of communal spaces in Princess Anne Gardens in Dawley.
Christopher Brooks was handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, when he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday .
Judge Peter Barrie, sentencing, said: "I think you took the machete with you to add force to your argument about the parking space. I think you were far too ready to get involved in a serious argument with your neighbour, though I accept you had the weapon not to cause injury.
"You need to understand how easy it is for arguments to get out of hand when weapons are involved."
Christopher Brooks was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and told to forfeit the machete.
During the trial the jury heard how the row on June 10 this year centred around one of the five communal car parking spaces, which the brothers said their parents had been using for years, but which Mr Brown's wife Lorraine had parked in.
Christopher Brooks said he had not removed the machete from the sheath and had no intention of hurting anyone. Both brothers were cleared of possessing an offensive weapon.
