A MAN waved a pickaxe to stop mourners getting into his garden after matters got out of hand at a wake, York Crown Court heard.

Mourners were attending the event at the house next door to Brendan Barry Fletcher, 42, said Rob Galley, prosecuting.

Fletcher behaved in a way that caused concern and an argument broke out.

Recorder Simon Jackson QC said people had been drinking. Fletcher retreated to his garden where he armed himself with a pickaxe.

“You swung it round in order to get people from entering your garden,” the judge told Fletcher.

“You obviously in your drunken state thought you were providing some protection for your wife.

“You should have done what you did later, which was to go into your house and lock your doors.”

A victim personal statement from the family of one of the young children present said she already had mental health problems for which she was taking medication.

“I feel this incident has made those issues a million times worse,” the statement said.

Fletcher has moved from his address in Sherburn-in-Elmet because of the incident and now lives in St Phillips Grove, Clifton.

He pleaded guilty to affray and was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years on condition he does 40 days’ rehabilitative activities to tackle his alcohol intake and 250 hours’ unpaid work.

For him, Laura Addy said that although he had been in trouble when he was younger, mostly for dishonesty and motoring offences, he had been a law-abiding citizen for several years.

He had settled down and had a job, she added.