Machete-wielding man yelled 'let's have some fun' at driver in parking rage

A man from Staffordshire was sentenced to six months in jail after he threatened someone who had parked near his home with a machete. Michael Lewiss, 54, from Oakamoor near Stone-on-Trent, was unhappy when he discovered a man parked in Rosebank Crescent.

When the man returned to the car, Lewiss approached him with a machete, raised the weapon and shouted: "Come on then, let's have some fun."

The Stoke Sentinel reported that the victim, terrified at the unprovoked threat, drove away from the scene. Lewiss told police that he had used a baseball bat and not a machete, before eventually telling the truth.

With a previous conviction for possession of an offensive weapon, Lewiss was handed a six-month prison sentence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Paul Spratt, said that the victim had been visiting his late father's former partner on the 1 May, and when he returned to his car at around 3pm, Lewiss appeared. Lewiss pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed weapon in public.

In a statement read out in court, his defence said: "He does genuinely sincerely apologise for being an idiot, as expressed by him."

"This was a deeply unpleasant incident," Judge Paul Glenn told Lewiss. "You have a chip on your shoulder and an unpleasant temper." Glenn added: "The message needs to get out – those who carry and produce knives will be severely dealt with. People who produce those weapons so often use them."