A drunken thug swung an axe at a van driver who tried to help him after seeing him standing in the middle of the road trying to direct traffic.
Paul Rodgerson was swigging alcohol from a glass and claiming to be helping children cross the road but there were no youngsters present. When the van driver got out and tried to help him, he turned nasty and ended up smashing his window with an axe and trying to headbutt him, then grappled with him on the ground.
Newcastle Crown Court heard it was around 3pm on July 26 last year that the driver of a while van with blue stripes was on Great Lime Road, in Forest Hall, North Tyneside and ended up in a queue of traffic. Nick Lane, prosecuting, said when he got to the front of the queue he noticed Rodgerson.
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Mr Lane said: "The defendant was in the middle of the road seemingly trying to direct traffic. He stopped the van by putting his hands on the bonnet. He appeared to have a glass in his hand with what looked like whisky in it.
"The van driver was concerned by his presence in the road and believed he needed help so he pulled in and got out to speak to him. The defendant said he was helping children cross the road because the traffic was ridiculous. This was unusual to the van driver because there were no children present at the time.
"He tried to encourage him off the road for his safety but he would not move and said 'I f****** hate the police'."
The driver got back in his van but Rodgerson then produced an axe and smashed the driver's door window before trying to headbutt him through the broken window. He then removed the keys to the vehicle and threw them into a nearby garden.
The victim got out of his van and a struggle ensued with Rodgerson kicking him and swinging the axe at him but he eventually made him drop the axe. He went back into his home and the driver approached him asking for his van keys but was told they were gone and Rodgerson raised his middle finger at him.
Police had been called and when they arrived Rodgerson struggled and was trying to lie down. The victim suffered cuts to his hands caused by flying glass and pain to his leg from being kicked.
In a victim impact statement, the van driver said: "I can't believe this happened to me. It's all because I tried to help him.
"I was extremely shaken and having flashbacks at having an axe swung at me. I feel my life flashed before my eyes and I'm so lucky my van window was closed or this could've ended very differently."
Rodgerson, 60, of Kelvin Place, Forest Hall, pleaded guilty to affray and having a bladed article and was sentenced to 14 months suspended for 12 months with rehabilitation.
Shaun Routledge, defending, said: "He has lost a great deal of weight on remand. There are family members to help him."
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