A violent visitor who wore a Halloween fright mask and brandished a metal bar as he made threats inside a man’s Workington home has been jailed for two years.
Brett Dempster, 43, let himself into the property in Northside at around 11pm on May 13 last year when the householder and two other men were present.
Carlisle Crown Court heard today that Dempster was wearing a Halloween-type mask and shouting threats which included: “I’m going to kill you.”
When challenged by one of the men present, Dempster took off his mask but remained aggressive while holding a metal bar. “He was waving this bar around. He was threatening to fight,” said prosecutor Steven Ball.
The householder ran from his property in fear for his own safety but returned after Dempster left and the address was locked.
But Dempster came back after realising he’d left his jacket. On being refused entry he smashed several windows, shouting “I’m going to come back and burn your house”, before launching the bar through a window.
Ultimately that bar and the mask were found. “The mask was analysed for forensics which linked up to the defendant through his DNA,” said Mr Ball.
Dempster made a further racist threat about the householder while talking to a police officer after the incident. He later admitted affray, criminal damage and threatening a person with an offensive weapon.
In a statement, his victim outlined the significant impact on him in the aftermath, described living in constant fear, struggling to sleep and paying to bolster his home security.
Defence lawyer Megan Cox said Dempster, of Station Road, Workington, was grieving at the time of the incident following the death of his 22-year-old daughter. He had consumed Jack Daniel’s before committing the offences and, said his lawyer, was extremely sorry.
Recorder Kate Bex told Dempster the incident must have been terrifying for the victim.
“He was sufficiently afraid during the incident to flee his house. It has clearly had a significant effect on him thereafter,” said the judge.
Recorder Bex added 14 days’ imprisonment, to be served consecutively, for committing the offences in breach of a suspended prison sentence which had been imposed earlier in 2022.
