A high-flying engineer became addicted to drugs and threatened to shoot his own dad if he did not sell his house for drug money.
Sam Henning once boasted a promising career as a team leader for Airbus, and was responsible for nearly 100 employees. But after turning to drugs and quitting his job, he violently stormed his parents' home in Warrington demanding cash and assaulted his retired step-mother.
Now the 31-year-old has been spared prison and is set to walk into a near £40,000 job.
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Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Wednesday, that his step mum had let the couple's dogs out in the rear garden of the address on Wash Lane in Latchford at around 6am on March 22 this year when an "angry and intoxicated" Henning entered via the open back door. That morning, his nan - who also lived in the property and was present - had already received three "aggressive and threatening" phone calls from her grandson, in which he stated he would burn down the house and "had a hidden gun and bullets".
Once inside, he threatened to "torch the house" and said he had a gun in his car - adding: "Don't think I won't use it."
Henning barged past his father's wife in an attempt to get at his dad as he hid behind a bedroom door, causing an injury to her elbow.
He then said: "Don't you know what I could do? Don't take me for a f***ing c***."
The former aircraft engineer proceeded to punch a television, smash a mirror and snap a house phone in half. Police attended the scene and arrested Henning - of Maes Glyndwr in Treuddyn, North Wales - following the incident, which arose after he became enraged that his dad would not sell him the house and hand him a portion of the proceeds.
In a statement read out to the court, the step mum described how she feared that he would 'come back to the house with a gun and follow through with what he said'. His dad added that he 'thought it was the end'.
Henning, who has three previous convictions for six offences, admitted affray, assault and two counts of criminal damage during an earlier hearing.
Gareth Roberts, defending, told the court: "He seeks one day - he hopes more than anything - to be reconciled with his father. He knows he's got to do a lot of work to regain the trust of his father.
"He wants to put this behind all of them in due course. He understands it will be up to his family as to whether they want anything to do with him.
"He is a man who is profoundly ashamed of how he acted on that night, and in recent years. He got into drugs, took voluntary redundancy and frittered everything away.
"Now sober, he presents as a very articulate and intelligent young man. He has a significant rise through the ranks at Airbus and looked after a team of 96 other workers.
"He still has some way to go, but has now been drug-free for some months and will continue to strive towards that. He hopes to start again in a career which, up until 25, was a very successful one."
Mr Roberts added that his client has been offered a new job as an engineer in Mold with a £38,500 annual salary, which he is due to begin within weeks.
Sentencing, Judge David Hale said: "Your life has been ruined by drugs and drink, so much so that you fell out with your father over some family argument about money. It's not a very edifying prospect, because you obviously got very offensive on this night when you had too much to drink and probably other things as well.
"You made all sorts of threats to damage and hurt the occupants. You made yourself a thorough nuisance and they were very frightened.
"They remain in fear of you. But I'm told - and I have some doubts about it - that you have started to turn your life around, and you are not now taking drugs.
"I'm a little cautious about this offer of a new job. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, because you are a man who is obviously able to look after people in work, and if you are free of drugs then your life could be setting off on a new path."
Henning was handed an 18-month imprisonment suspended for two years and told to complete 100 hours of community service, plus a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days. He was also given a restraining order preventing him from contacting his family or entering their street until December next year, and made to pay £1,000 in court costs and a victim surcharge.
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