Armed police attend Longford over machete thug smashing windows

Adam Clare was caught on doorbell footage smashing a window with a machete – which also recklessly injured a teenager.

The 31-year-old was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting charges of affray, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

The incident was sparked by events on the afternoon of July 7 this year outside shops in Longford, explained Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting.

The complainant, who the court heard had been having an affair with the defendant’s sister’s partner, was present and involved in a ‘confrontation’.

Messages were posted on Snapchat, with the post by the complainant coming to the attention of the defendant.

He became ‘enraged’ by this on behalf of his sister and attended the complainant’s Longford home address, where her children were present.

With his hood up, Clare started smashing windows while in possession of a ‘large bladed weapon’ described as a machete.

A teenage occupant came outside and challenged Clare over his behaviour, but he was grabbed and struck with the weapon, causing bruising to his leg.

On doorbell footage, the victim was heard saying he was sorry, ‘not for anything he had done, but to placate the defendant’, the court heard.

The complainant arrived home in her car while the incident was ongoing, with Clare approaching the car and repeatedly striking the rear window with the machete.

Unknown to him as the rear windows were tinted dark, there was a child in the rear of the vehicle.

During the attack, Clare was heard shouting: “You think you can call my sister a f*****g s**g?”

Adam Clare was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court

The ‘terrified’ victim then drove away, running over the defendant’s bike in the process by accident ‘in panic’.

Armed police descended on the street and Clare was arrested, before answering ‘no comment’ to questions put to him during his interview. The blade was not recovered.

Mr Hopkins revealed to the court that Clare has 17 previous convictions for 40 offences, including a large number for criminal damage, and also some for violence and possessing a weapon.

One previous criminal damage incident saw him cover a police custody cell in spit and semen.

Mitigating for her client, Zahra Baqri said that he is ‘realistic’ about his situation and highlighted that his best mitigation comes in the form of his guilty pleas.

She said Clare’s reaction was ‘entirely inappropriate’, and that he ‘apologises completely’ for his actions.

“They were committed in the heat of the moment, and he fully accepts he should have managed his anger and distress in a very different way,” Ms Baqri commented.

His mental health battles were referenced, as was his remorse and the fact that he is abstaining from drugs and alcohol as they ‘do not assist him’.

Before sentencing, judge Denis Watson said: “You behaved in a completely hot-headed and irrational way.

“Your real target arrived, so you wound yourself up again and had another go.

“You have a poor history of compliance with non-custodial penalties. The sentence cannot be suspended.”

Clare, of Kentmere Place in Orford, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, which he is to serve immediately.

He was also made the subject of three restraining orders, each lasting three years and prohibiting him from contacting or approaching the complainant or her family.