Hartlepool man jailed at Teesside Crown Court for arming himself with two knives in the street at 4.30am

Armed police responded when Owen Dolman, 24, banged on the window of a house in Dent Street, Hartlepool, at 4.30am.

CCTV showed he had two knives, Teesside Crown Court heard.

It was said Dolman, who had been drinking, was concerned for the safety of his sister inside the house and he made threats towards a male inside the address.

CCTV lost sight of Dolman and when police caught up with him he did not have the knives on him.

It was said they were thrown over a fence and were never recovered.

Dolman, of Dent Street, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a knife in public.

Defence barrister Stephen Constantine said: “His intention was to try to extricate his sister from what he saw was a threat to her own personal safety.”

Mr Constantine submitted it was an “isolated incident” and despite banging on the window, Dolman made no determined effort to get inside the house.

He added that since the incident on October 12, 2021, his client has turned his life around and now has a job and a family.

But the judge, Recorder David Brooke, told Dolman the only right way to respond to his concerns for his sister was to call the police.

Jailing him for eight months, he added: “The difficulty with these sort of cases is what might have gone wrong.

"It’s for that reason I can’t draw back from immediate custody.”