Man threatened to chop off teenager’s fingers with axe

The teenager was so concerned that Michael Cullen would make good on his threat that he fled from his home

A man not long out of prison threatened to chop off a teenager’s fingers with an axe, a court has heard. The teenager was so concerned by the menacing phone call that he fled his home shortly before the defendant turned up at the property armed with a hammer.

Swansea Crown Court heard that the background to the threat was money owed for damage done to a borrowed car, with Cullen volunteering to take the role of debt enforcer.

The defendant’s advocate said his client had been “trying to secure compensation for a friend” but accepted he shouldn’t have acted in the way he did.

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, told the court that the victim in the case borrowed a car from a woman known to Cullen, and then let a friend of his drive it. The friend subsequently crashed the car and the two men abandoned the damaged vehicle.

The court heard the woman asked the Swansea teenager – who cannot be named due to his age – for compensation for the damage done but none was forthcoming. The woman later mentioned the incident to Cullen who took matters into his own hands.

The prosecutor said on the night of April 13 this year the defendant called the teenager, telling him to pay compensation to the woman and telling him he had recently been released from prison.

Cullen then told the teenager that he would be attending his home that night, and would cut off his fingers with an axe.

The court heard the complainant ended the call before ringing the police, and that he then left the house as he was concerned Cullen would make good on his threat. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter

The prosecutor said that at 2.30am the following morning Cullen and the owner of the damaged car arrived at the teenager’s house in a taxi. He said the defendant knocked on the front door, and after getting no answer produced a hammer from the pocket of his hoodie.

The court heard Cullen then broke the video doorbell on the property before walking into the rear garden and taking a children’s motorbike. The 44-year-old defendant was riding off on the stolen bike when police arrived on the scene, and officers tracked him down and arrested him a short time later.

In a statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the victim said he was concerned for the safety of his family.

Michael Cullen, of Clyne Court, Sketty Park, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to sending threatening communications, criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon, and driving while disqualified when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 11 previous convictions for 41 offences including “serious violence”, dangerous driving, and aggravated vehicle taking.

Andrew Evans, for Cullen, said his client had been “trying to secure compensation for a friend” but accepted he shouldn’t have taken matters into his own hands in the way he did, and shouldn’t have made unlawful threats – though he said in his submissions the threats had been “empty” ones.

The advocate said the defendant had come out of prison drug free shortly before the incident and was disappointed in his behaviour and the position he had now put himself in.

Judge Huw Rees said he suspected that in the cold light of day the defendant now realises he went about things in the wrong way and now understands he should not have got involved in the dispute.

With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas Cullen was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He will serve 40 per cent of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.