A teenager is behind bars after threatening a woman with a samurai sword outside her home in Ellesmere Port .
Gary Tushingham, 18, of Acre Road, Great Sutton , was sentenced to 42 weeks in prison at Chester Crown Court today (November 28) for possession of an offensive weapon and for causing fear or provocation of violence.
The court heard that on September 14 this year, Tushingham called at the woman's house and enquired whether her son was in.
When she told him he wasn't, she said he pulled out a small version of a samurai sword and threatened her.
He walked off but returned as the front passenger in a car and made more threats.
Tushingham, who earlier pleaded guilty to the offence, has 17 previous convictions for 32 offences dating back to 2007, when he was only 12-years-old.
At today's trial of issue, Tushingham disputed that it was a weapon he threatened the woman with, instead claiming that it was the metal handle of a mop he had found on the street en route to her house.
But after reviewing CCTV footage, Judge Nicholas Woodward said he was satisfied that Tushingham had been brandishing a sword.
Describing the incident as a 'very serious offence', Judge Woodward said: "You are 18 years of age and you have a very bad record.
"I am quite satisfied that it was a sword you were carrying.
"Whilst I accept that you only displayed it for a brief period, you were threatening and intimidating.
"It is right that you did not march around the streets brandishing it but you did get it out in front of that house and that would have been a very frightening experience for that lady."
Tushingham was arrested just hours after the incident after police traced the vehicle he was travelling in to Cheshire Oaks.
Armed police swooped on the car on the roundabout near the Hungry Horse.
