A hot-headed troublemaker was left furious at suddenly being told to move his beloved caravan from his sister-in-law’s garden – and got his revenge by sending a menacing message threatening to blow her house up.
Steven Atkinson took offence when he was abruptly told to leave after his sister-in-law complained that he and his friends had caused serious problems by being “noisy and rowdy”. The threat to blow up the house left the woman in fear and suffering panic attacks, Hull Crown Court heard.
Atkinson, 38, of the Orchard Park estate, in Hull, admitted threatening to destroy property by blowing up a house belonging to his sister-in-law on May 26 last year. He also admitted damaging a window at her home on April 18 last year.
Thomas Cowan, prosecuting, said that, in August 2023, Atkinson moved his caravan into the back garden of the house occupied by his brother and sister-in-law. He lived there “on and off” but “matters came to a head” in April last year after he invited some people round.
“They were quite noisy and rowdy,” said Mr Cowan. Atkinson’s sister-in-law told him: “You have woken my son up. You are going to have to move your caravan tomorrow.” The woman and her husband later, however, started instead to move the caravan out of the garden themselves.
“The defendant turned up in his truck and took issue with what she and her husband were doing,” said Mr Cowan. There was an argument and Atkinson threw a shovel at a window, causing it to smash.
He later sent her voice messages, including one saying that he wanted money that he was supposedly owed for Christmas presents that had been bought for his sister-in-law’s family. He became “more irate” in the messages and sent one saying words to the effect: “If you don’t give me the money, I’m going to blow your house up.”
It was a short-lived incident and Atkinson acted on impulse over a relatively small amount of money. “It was a threat to burn or bomb or destroy a property,” said Mr Cowan. A non-molestation order was made in July last year and it remained in place until June 27 this year.
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“Things have calmed down,” said Mr Cowan. “There has been no problem since. Nothing has happened since. The defendant has been on bail.”
The sister-in-law later said: “I do not want to leave my home, in fear of bumping into him.” She had suffered panic attacks.
Cathy Kioko-Gilligan, mitigating, said that Atkinson’s caravan was now kept in a different place. He did not work. The court heard that he was working with a homelessness team to get help for having his own accommodation. He had a poor record for previous criminal convictions but he had kept out of trouble since 2019, the court heard.
Atkinson was given 100 hours’ unpaid work and 10 days’ rehabilitation. He was given a two-year restraining order.