Man fled from Louth teenager who he believed was carrying a knife

Connor Chapman, 18, of Beech Grove, had admitted that on April 14 he used threatening behaviour towards James Hanley with intent to cause him to believe that violence was likely to be used.

Jim Clare, prosecuting, said that at 3.05pm Mr Hanley was going to see his girlfriend when a black Ford Fiesta pulled up alongside him and the driver, Chapman’s brother, with whom he had been involved in a previous incident, called him a ‘p***y’.

He said that Connor Chapman then came out of the passenger’s side wielding what Mr Hanley thought was a knife, and came at him so he ran away.

He said that when he stopped, Chapman came in front of him with his right hand behind his back but was called back to the car by his brother.

Chapman was later arrested and admitted he had run after Mr Hanley with the intention of intimidating him but said he was carrying a drink’s bottle, not a knife.

Mitigating, Saleem Khan said Chapman would have been given a police caution, but he was already on bail.

He said there was a level of previous incidents between the two parties but this chase had only lasted a few seconds and was an impulsive act.

Mr Khan said he wanted to make it absolutely clear that Chapman was carrying a bottle of pop and not a knife.

The magistrates imposed an 18 months conditional discharge and ordered Chapman to pay £105 in costs and charges.