Builder's were rude to his wife, so David Arklie chased them down road with a Samurai sword

AN angry resident armed himself with a samurai sword and chased a group of builders down the road after they abused his wife.

David Arklie, 47, was given a suspended prison sentence at Bristol Crown Court yesterday for possessing an offensive weapon in public.

Prosecuting, Mary Cowe described how on November 6 last year Mr Arklie lost his temper after a series of disputes between him, his wife and builders who were doing work on Glebe Road, Long Ashton.

Arguments about parking in the street had escalated and on the day in question the builders were "being abusive" towards Mrs Arklie as she came home.

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Mr Arklie let her into the house and after ten minutes he opened the door to more abuse, the court heard. Mrs Arklie went out to walk the dog and it continued.

Miss Cowe said Mr Arklie went outside and he claimed they started throwing things at him. Witnesses said they heard "smashing noises", which could have been roof tiles being thrown.

Miss Cowe said as one of the builders threw a punch at Mr Arklie he unsheathed a black-handled 2ft-long samurai sword and chased him out into the street. Witnesses saw the builders run as they were confronted with the weapon.

On his arrest, Mr Arklie told police: "I did it because they attacked my wife."

Mrs Arklie told the police "it was like being under siege".

The sword was seized by police. When the case came to court he admitted possessing an offensive weapon.

He had previous convictions for causing grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm, but had never been convicted of offences involving weapons.

Mitigating, Mr Arklie's solicitor Jane Chamberlin told the court the sword was "not razor sharp" and was only used for martial arts. She said her client knew he had acted inappropriately that day.

Judge Martin Picton described the offence as "serious" and imposed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for a year. He ordered Arklie to do 200 hours of unpaid work, plus sessions to work on managing his aggression.

The judge said: "It's a very serious thing to take a weapon like that out into the street.

"You know what you did was wrong, you lost your temper. OK, you were provoked but that cannot make it right, can it?"

Later, he added: "You had a range of choices and you took the wrong one didn't you?"

Visibly relieved, Mr Arklie thanked the judge as he left the dock.