Let-off for the delivery man who went berserk with the builder

A hammer-wielding delivery man who ‘charged’ at a noisy builder outside his home was spared jail.

Leroy McNally, 55, snapped when workmen began drilling holes in the hallway outside his home in Regina Road, South Norwood, southeast London on 25 July this year.

McNally confronted the builders about the racket in the morning before screaming ‘f–k you’ and slamming his front door, the Old Bailey heard.

Violence erupted at 1.40pm when one informed his site manager, James Patron, of McNally ‘causing difficulty’ and ‘chasing him with a hammer’.

When site manager James Patron approached McNally he ‘charged’ at him with a hammer, causing the builder to back away terrified and fall over.

McNally then jumped on top of him and ‘swung’ the hammer before Mr Patron managed to get him off and run for shelter in the site hut nearby, the court heard.

Police were called but McNally was initially sectioned but found to be too mentally unwell to be questioned.

Edward Jones, defending, said McNally had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

But after getting work as a dispatch driver he stopped taking his medication for fear it would make him drowsy, the court heard.

Judge Anne Molyneux told McNally ‘I’m aware that this is a stressful day for you [McNally] so let me tell you that this is a suspended sentence so your mind can be at ease.

‘Mr Patron was in his office when one of his colleagues came to him and said he had been experiencing some problem with you.

‘You had been banging on your door and shouting at the builders.

‘You had a hammer.

‘When Mr Patron was about 8m away from you, you charged at him.

‘Mr Patron backed away, fell over and landed on his back.

‘You jumped on him which caused him pain.

‘You held your hammer in the air and swung the hammer at him but missed.

‘You chased after him.

‘Mr Patron sustained some injuries, including a 1-inch cut to his right hand, a deep graze across his elbow, a light graze on his forearm.

‘You pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon and assault by beating and are entitled to a discount.

‘You were diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia some 20 years ago and you have been in and out of hospital in that time.

‘You had not taken your medication for two months. You had a job and you were worried the medication would make you drowsy.

‘What happened that day was likely to be coloured by your paranoia.

‘You now do realise that you should have gone back to your flat and shut the door.’

McNally, of Regina Road, South Norwood, admitted assault by beating and possession of an offensive weapon.

He was sentenced to five months jail, suspended for a year with a requirement he receives mental health treatment.
ends