32-year-old pleads guilty after being seen with an axe in Northamptonshire town centre

A 32-year-old man has pleaded guilty after he was seen with an axe in Brackley town centre.

Leyton Gondrez, of Winston Crescent, Brackley, appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on July 20 where he pleaded guilty to one count of using threatening/abusive/insulting words/behaviour to cause harassment/alarm/distress. He was due to undergo trial at the same court on September 26 for a charge of possession of a knife blade/sharp pointed article in a public place and one public order offence, however he changed his plea to guilty.

The charges relate to an incident on January 20, 2023, when Northamptonshire Police received a 999 call reporting a man was in Market Place with an axe and was being aggressive.

When officers arrived, they found Gondrez inside a room at the Crown Hotel after staff had managed to take the weapon from him.

He was arrested and on the way to custody was verbally abusive to officers, calling one a homophobic slur.

Gondrez was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months and subject to 12 months’ supervision, ordered to undergo a six-month alcohol treatment period, complete a maximum of 25 days of rehabilitation activity, and also complete 60 hours of unpaid work within 12 months.

Gondrez was also given a concurrent suspended sentence for the public order offence, with a further 20 hours of unpaid work ordered to be completed for this matter. He was also ordered to pay £310 in costs and a £154 victim surcharge, with a collection order made.