Former soldier high on crack found in Corby with meat cleaver 'wanting revenge'

A Corby man was arrested after ‘marching up and down’ a main thoroughfare with a machete.

Craig Hart was found in Willow Brook Road, Corby, on November 19 while intoxicated and high on drugs.

The 53-year-old was seen ‘marching’ along the busy street ‘muttering something about wanting revenge’, Northampton Crown Court heard.

Police were called and Hart, of Reigate Walk, was tasered. A meat cleaver fell out of his pocket and when he was searched, officers found in his pockets a screwdriver, a Stanley knife, a pipe and lighters.

The court heard Hart had 51 previous convictions for 12 offences including possession of a knife in 2007 and driving with excess alcohol in 2019.

He admitted to probation officers that he had been drinking in the pub on the day in question and had also taken crack cocaine and diazepam.

Hart’s barrister Liam Muir said his client had been interacting with drug and alcohol services in an ‘extremely positive way’ and had shown real remorse after pleading guilty to possession of the meat cleaver.

He said that Hart had not set out to harm anyone and had little recollection of the evening’s events.

Her Honour Judge Adrienne Lucking said that she had concerns about Hart’s wish for ‘revenge’ and said that he had told probation officers he had been in the army and served in Bosnia, although she said that was unlikely given he was only a soldier for a few months at the age of 17.

She said: “You can’t walk round a residential area carrying a meat cleaver, particularly not when you have consumed alcohol and drugs.”

But she said if she gave him a custodial sentence he was only likely to serve eight weeks so local people would be better protected by the imposition of a long community order including three years of supervision by probation.

He was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work in the community and was made the subject of a six month mental health treatment order. He will have to complete 25 rehabilitation requirement days and will be fitted with an alcohol abstinence monitor for three months.

He was warned that any breach may result in imprisonment.