Doncaster boxer 'rammed family's car, brandished iron bar and threatened to burn down house' in grudge attack

Brett May’s approach with the bar terrified the female occupant so much she fled her home over the back fence, on March 4, 2018.

CCTV revealed that another man smashed her windows with bricks, prosecutor Adam Walker told Sheffield Crown Court on Friday.

Camera phone footage showed May chasing the family with two young children in his 4x4 along Station Road, Dunscroft, on January 20, 2019. The driver’s wife filmed him shunting their vehicle.

In August last year May rang a woman he was banned by court order from contacting to say: "You better get out or I will burn your house down."

May had previously assaulted her with an adjustable spanner, Mr Walker said, adding that three months earlier he posted a £25,000 reward for the woman's address on Snapchat.

His victims described themselves as "petrified," "scared" for their lives" and concerned for the safety of their children.

The court heard he has 20 previous convictions between October 2007 and April 2017, for violence and offensive weapons.

Dermot Hughes, mitigating, said May had post-traumatic stress disorder following an attack which left him needing life-saving surgery.

He needed 100 stitches to his his jugular vein and 1,000 stitches for lacerations to his body.

"A group had a grudge against him," Mr Hughes said. "Whatever it was, they went way beyond what he might have envisaged. He has a bit of a temper, which is pretty obvious from the material the court has seen."

He added that May, who has psychological problems, cannot be housed in Doncaster prisons because they contain his enemies.

He said May's sister had been terrorised 24 hours before he appeared with the iron bar.

May, 29, currently of HMP Hull, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, affray, possession of an offensive weapon, criminal damage and breach of a restraining order.

Judge Sarah Wright jailed him for 24 months, minus the time he has already served on remand, and banned him from driving for 20 months.