Co Antrim man who was holding knives doused himself in petrol and threatened to kill his ex-partner

Kurtis Millar (29), with an address listed as Corbally Avenue in Antrim, turned up at the property in Antrim, after 4am on January 6 this year.

He appeared at Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena on Tuesday, via video link from prison and pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a canister of petrol and a lighter with intent to cause criminal damage; a threat to kill; possession of three knives; possession of a knife with intent to commit criminal damage; disorderly behaviour and causing criminal damage.

A prosecutor said police received a 999 call from a woman who said her ex-partner Millar was outside her home address and he had thrown a brick through a front window.

Police arrived and saw him in a front garden wearing "just a pair of boxer shorts" and items of his clothing had been scattered around the front of the house.

A window of a front door and living room window were smashed. When arrested the defendant was shouting loudly.

The woman told police she was awakened by the front door being constantly rang.She told police she looked outside and saw Millar with two knives and he shouted he was coming into the house and was going to kill her.

A child was also in the house. Millar then smashed a window with a brick and threw what the woman believed to be a knife at an upstairs window.

There was damage to the front door consistent with a knife being stabbed into the door. The prosecutor said Millar "then removed all his clothing."

Police seized three knives and a canister of petrol and a "toilet roll that was doused in petrol".

The prosecutor said the defendant's clothes were located at the scene and there was "no evidence that any items had been set on fire".

A defence barrister said the defendant had been in custody since January and pleaded guilty.

The lawyer said a "very sinister aspect" of the case was the presence of the canister of petrol.

He told the court: "When police arrived at the scene this petrol, for whatever reason, had been used by Millar who doused himself. His clothes were soaking in petrol. He was standing in this poor lady's garden in his boxer shorts. Whether he had intent to set fire to himself is a real issue. He was very intoxicated".The lawyer added: "He cannot provide any explanation for what was going through his mind".

The barrister added that "when sober" the defendant, is "very well spoken and polite".He said the "alcohol and drug misuse" played a part in the defendant's record.The defendant's record including an entry in 2016 for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm for which he received a custodial sentence.Deputy District Chris Holmes said in January this year the defendant "arrived at his ex-partner's house and re-enacts something out of 'The Shining'. She must have been absolutely petrified".

The judge added: "He has got two knives and he is doused in petrol. He says he is coming in to kill her and then he smashes the window with a brick".

Judge Holmes said the defendant had been "caught red-handed" when he "was covered in petrol, half-naked, standing in a garden with a couple of knives".

The judge said the defendant had already spent time in custody and his sentencing was a "balancing exercise between punishment and protection of the injured party" and "my main concern is the protection of the injured party".

Judge Holmes handed down an 18 months prison term, suspended for three years.He said if he had given a custodial sentence the defendant had already spent time on remand and would walk out in a "few months time and there is going to be no protection for this young lady at all".

A five year Restraining Order was also put in place.