A defendant was warned he would have been facing a murder allegation if he had struck a binman with a claw hammer on the head. Thankfully, Craig Goldby missed hitting the man after pulling the hammer from a pocket when he took the law into his own hands.
Nottingham Crown Court heard Goldby had taken steps to secure the weapon to his hand with duct tape on Saturday, December 3, 2022, in Westgate Street, St Ann's. He had approached the victim, shouting he was going to "do him in" and "he was a dead man".
As he missed with one swing of the hammer, Goldby tried to swing once more, but was tackled to the ground by his victim, who broke his hand. A large kitchen knife fell from Goldby at the time but was not used.
Read more: Drug dealers refused to open car doors during police stop at traffic lights in Radford
The attack happened after rumours were flying around the victim had allegedly paid to have a 14-year-old boy beaten up. But the victim said they had been on friendly terms for many years - and it was shocking how things change in 24 hours.
He spoke in a statement of trying to get back to work, taking time off due to his injuries, and how he could not do his job as a binman with a broken right hand. Goldby, 33, of Abbey Road, Beeston, pleaded guilty to threatening with an offensive weapon but was convicted after a trial of having the knife.
On Tuesday (April 11) Judge Stuart Rafferty KC sentenced him to two years in prison, and imposed a five-year restraining order on the victim and family members. He told the defendant: "Had it ever crossed your mind, that if things had taken a different course, that if a single blow from that hammer had struck the victim on the head?
"You would be facing an allegation of murder, with a sentence of life imprisonment, with a minimum term probably of 30 years, before you could be considered for parole. You didn't think of any of that".
Read next:
- More than 60 criminals locked up before Nottingham courts this year
- Schoolboy tells how he was arrested at school at 13 and faced exclusion
- Shock in 'vibrant' Nottingham suburb after stabbing outside church
- Boots unveils 'world first' new No7 Future Renew products to reverse skin damage
- Police clean 'obscene and offensive' graffiti from several homes on new Hucknall housing estate
