A drunken County Durham dad threatened his mother-in-law before terrifying his neighbours by telling them he'd "petrol bomb" their house.
Scott Anderson carried out the threats on July 12 last year, after his mother-in-law refused to hand over his daughter when he drunkenly turned up to take her to school a day late.
Later that same day, the 34-year-old made chilling threats to his next door neighbour, saying he would attack their house after climbing over their garden fence.
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Anderson appeared at Durham Crown Court on Wednesday to be sentenced for threats to kill, threats to cause damage, and possession of cannabis.
Chris Morrison, prosecuting, said Anderson's mother-in-law was looking after his young daughter at her bungalow in Stanley and he was due to collect her on July 11.
But he never turned up.
"He did attend the next morning, seemingly under the influence of alcohol", Mr Morrison said.
"He was swigging from a beer can when he walked into the property uninvited. His mother-in-law was with the child at the time."
Anderson was behaving "aggressively", and his mother-in-law prevented him from taking his daughter to school.
"He then threatened to kill her if she called the police", Mr Morrison added.
After leaving, the court was told Anderson then called his mother-in-law around an hour and a half later where he was described as being "angry" and "aggressive".
"The defendant threatened to come round with a chainsaw if she didn't put his daughter on the phone", Mr Morrison said.
Soon after the call, Anderson was in his own back garden when he began hurling threats at his next door neighbours.
"An ugly exchange is what followed", Mr Morrison said.
Anderson then climbed over the neighbour's garden fence, saying 'I'm going to kill the f****** lot of you'.
Terrified, his neighbours ran into their home, before Anderson picked up a broom and began punching and hitting their door.
He continued his threats, saying he was going to kill one of them before he returned to his own garden and was seen "raising a green petrol can" over the fence.
He threatened to "petrol bomb" his neighbour's home, before telling them: 'You don't know who you're messing with or what I'm capable of'.
The court heard that Anderson then returned to his mother-in-law's home with the petrol can and "demanded to see his daughter".
"He then threatened to burn her house down as well and held up a lighter which he was flicking, making it spark", Mr Morrison said.
The police were called and Anderson was arrested, with cannabis being found in his possession.
Mr Morrison added that "trauma had been caused to all" involved.
The court heard Anderson, of Orwell Gardens, Stanley, had eight previous convictions for offences including threatening behaviour and possession of an offensive weapon.
He was also given a community order in 2019 for "low level assault".
Jennifer Coxon, defending, said Anderson was "extremely apologetic" and that he had a "fractured relationship" with his neighbours and mother-in-law.
"Emotions very simply built up on this day to the point he made awful threats which he's accepted", she said.
"He's been in a relationship with his partner for a number of years and has three children.
"On this day, he had been drinking the night before, that's why his daughter was at his mother-in-law's.
"He walked a considerable distance from his friend's home to his mother-in-law's property to take his daughter to school.
"As a result of her not providing access, he saw red and that unfortunately led him down a path of quite awful behaviour towards her and his neighbours."
Ms Coxon added Anderson was a "hard working young man" who had become unemployed during the Covid pandemic, which had a "significant impact" on his mental health.
She said began to "increase his alcohol intake" as a result.
Sentencing Anderson, Judge Ray Singh said he was "undoubtedly intoxicated" at the time and jailed him for 32 months.
