Today's most viewed
Drunken man threatened to kill solicitors staff
A DRUNKEN man threatened to kill staff at a Bolton solicitors because they had been involved in a Family Court case against his partner.
Stephen Swanton terrified workers at Fieldings Porter Solicitors in Silverwell Street by saying he would bomb the offices, Bolton Magistrates' Court heard.
He then subjected staff to a volley of abuse before leaving the building.
The 47-year-old, of Vernon Street, Bolton, appeared at court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to using threatening, insulting and abusive language with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress, at an earlier hearing.
Glenn Anderton, prosecuting, said: "The defendant had been drinking and smelt of alcohol and was slurring his words.
"His partner is an ex-client of the firm and he demanded to speak to Hilary Dunn, one of the partners.
"When it was explained that she was not there he refused to leave so was asked to take a seat.
"He started to drink from a bottle of whiskey and annoy clients so was taken into an interview room."
Half an hour later Ms Dunn arrived at the office and spoke to Swanton, asking him to leave the premises.
Mr Anderton said: "He became aggressive. He went into the reception where partners of the firm Edward Nally and Craig Morris were.
"He left but a few seconds later was back shouting I'm going to kill you all, I'm going to bomb you,' before leaving."
A victim statement from Ms Dunn, read to the court, said: "I'm extremely angry about the upset caused. I do not want him to come here anymore."
Adam Whittaker, defending, said: "Mr Swanton's partner has never really got over the court case and is distressed on a daily basis. He had been drinking and they had been talking about it.
"He said he got himself all worked up and wanted to talk to someone about it. The solicitors couldn't talk to him, he refused to leave and got aggressive.
"He apologises unreservedly and regrets his words and actions."
Sentencing Magistrate David Vause said: "We can't have people like you going round interfering at a solicitor's office and threatening people."
Swanton was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £43 and a victim surcharge of £15. He also bound over for 12 months to the sum of £200.
7:34pm Wednesday 26th March 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: OldBoltonian on 7:55pm Wed 26 Mar 08
[quote]Swanton was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £43 and a victim surcharge of £15. He also bound over for 12 months to the sum of £200.[/quote]
Pitiful, pathetic, beneath contempt.
So you can get locked up for 5 years for having an air pistol in public [bold]and doing nothing with it[/bold] but some drunken scumbag lout threatening to bomb your office and staff gets a measly pittance of a fine? Stupid imbecilic etc etc - I give up, I really do. I'm sure the £15 "victim surcharge" will really make a difference to a solicitor's practice too.
Swanton was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £43 and a victim surcharge of £15. He also bound over for 12 months to the sum of £200.
Pitiful, pathetic, beneath contempt.
So you can get locked up for 5 years for having an air pistol in public
and doing nothing with it but some drunken scumbag lout threatening to bomb your office and staff gets a measly pittance of a fine? Stupid imbecilic etc etc - I give up, I really do. I'm sure the £15 "victim surcharge" will really make a difference to a solicitor's practice too.
Posted by: News hound, Smithills on 8:01pm Wed 26 Mar 08
[quote][bold]OldBoltonian[/bold] wrote:
[quote]Swanton was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £43 and a victim surcharge of £15. He also bound over for 12 months to the sum of £200.[/quote] Pitiful, pathetic, beneath contempt. So you can get locked up for 5 years for having an air pistol in public [bold]and doing nothing with it[/bold] but some drunken scumbag lout threatening to bomb your office and staff gets a measly pittance of a fine? Stupid imbecilic etc etc - I give up, I really do. I'm sure the £15 "victim surcharge" will really make a difference to a solicitor's practice too.[/quote] victim surcharge is to funs the victim support network you plank. not compensation.
OldBoltonian wrote:
Swanton was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £43 and a victim surcharge of £15. He also bound over for 12 months to the sum of £200.
Pitiful, pathetic, beneath contempt. So you can get locked up for 5 years for having an air pistol in public and doing nothing with it but some drunken scumbag lout threatening to bomb your office and staff gets a measly pittance of a fine? Stupid imbecilic etc etc - I give up, I really do. I'm sure the £15 "victim surcharge" will really make a difference to a solicitor's practice too.
victim surcharge is to funs the victim support network you plank. not compensation.
Posted by: tax payer, Bolton on 8:22pm Wed 26 Mar 08
I, thought the victim' surcharge was to fund! BN punctuation lessons"
l,ol
I, thought the victim' surcharge was to fund! BN punctuation lessons"
l,ol
Posted by: steve, bolton on 8:57pm Wed 26 Mar 08
victim surcharge is to fund the victim support network you plank. not compensation.
I understood the victim support network was set up to support the victim.
As the victims were the staff surely the money is to support,either directly or indirectly, the staff.
If that's not the case then it's just funding another Government initiative.
victim surcharge is to fund the victim support network you plank. not compensation.
I understood the victim support network was set up to support the victim.
As the victims were the staff surely the money is to support,either directly or indirectly, the staff.
If that's not the case then it's just funding another Government initiative.
Posted by: Lord Lucan, Somewhere on 9:09pm Wed 26 Mar 08
[quote][bold]OldBoltonian[/bold] wrote:
[quote]Swanton was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £43 and a victim surcharge of £15. He also bound over for 12 months to the sum of £200.[/quote] Pitiful, pathetic, beneath contempt. So you can get locked up for 5 years for having an air pistol in public [bold]and doing nothing with it[/bold] but some drunken scumbag lout threatening to bomb your office and staff gets a measly pittance of a fine? Stupid imbecilic etc etc - I give up, I really do. I'm sure the £15 "victim surcharge" will really make a difference to a solicitor's practice too.[/quote] The theoretical minimum sentence for possession of a gun is 5 years, but this is very rarely given AGAINST GOVERNMENT ADVICE by judges.
Citizens, you need to realise that this government has created a society where crime pays and criminals fear neither detection (useless police) or the deterrent (you can halve any stated prison sentence for easily created "good behaviour" and it's actually really hard to get sentenced to prison anyway - as this story proves).
Forget proper work - do crime and get a life: it's officially sanctioned.
OldBoltonian wrote:
Swanton was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £43 and a victim surcharge of £15. He also bound over for 12 months to the sum of £200.
Pitiful, pathetic, beneath contempt. So you can get locked up for 5 years for having an air pistol in public and doing nothing with it but some drunken scumbag lout threatening to bomb your office and staff gets a measly pittance of a fine? Stupid imbecilic etc etc - I give up, I really do. I'm sure the £15 "victim surcharge" will really make a difference to a solicitor's practice too.
The theoretical minimum sentence for possession of a gun is 5 years, but this is very rarely given AGAINST GOVERNMENT ADVICE by judges.
Citizens, you need to realise that this government has created a society where crime pays and criminals fear neither detection (useless police) or the deterrent (you can halve any stated prison sentence for easily created "good behaviour" and it's actually really hard to get sentenced to prison anyway - as this story proves).
Forget proper work - do crime and get a life: it's officially sanctioned.
Posted by: OldBoltonian on 10:02pm Wed 26 Mar 08
NewsHound. With the brain of a chihuahua. Victim Support = support for victims. Planker. (look it up on google if you can manage that).
NewsHound. With the brain of a chihuahua. Victim Support = support for victims. Planker. (look it up on google if you can manage that).
Posted by: player #1, Half the world away on 9:00am Thu 27 Mar 08
[quote][bold]OldBoltonian[/bold] wrote:
NewsHound. With the brain of a chihuahua. Victim Support = support for victims. Planker. (look it up on google if you can manage that).[/quote] isn't the Victim support network there to support victims who need it? whether through counselling services, reparation costs etc.
its not given to the victims of the case.
OldBoltonian wrote:
NewsHound. With the brain of a chihuahua. Victim Support = support for victims. Planker. (look it up on google if you can manage that).
isn't the Victim support network there to support victims who need it? whether through counselling services, reparation costs etc.
its not given to the victims of the case.
Posted by: gg, leeds on 10:13am Thu 27 Mar 08
[quote][bold]player #1[/bold] wrote:
[quote][bold]OldBoltonian[/bold] wrote: NewsHound. With the brain of a chihuahua. Victim Support = support for victims. Planker. (look it up on google if you can manage that).[/quote] isn't the Victim support network there to support victims who need it? whether through counselling services, reparation costs etc. its not given to the victims of the case.[/quote] Don't think anyone has said it is.
player #1 wrote:
OldBoltonian wrote: NewsHound. With the brain of a chihuahua. Victim Support = support for victims. Planker. (look it up on google if you can manage that).
isn't the Victim support network there to support victims who need it? whether through counselling services, reparation costs etc. its not given to the victims of the case.
Don't think anyone has said it is.
Posted by: player #1, Half the world away on 10:37am Thu 27 Mar 08
[quote]I'm sure the £15 "victim surcharge" will really make a difference to a solicitor's practice too.[/quote]
Thought it was implied!
I'm sure the £15 "victim surcharge" will really make a difference to a solicitor's practice too.
Thought it was implied!
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
