Police used Taser to arrest Hartlepool knifeman

A woman filmed Brian Morrow, 29, from Hartlepool, on her phone before police arrived.

But a judge at Teesside Crown Court said he accepted that Morrow, who had to be Tasered by officers to bring him under control, intended to frighten off two attackers who fled the scene.

Morrow, a health and safety officer, was only lightly convicted before the incident in Forfar Road, Hartlepool, on May 29 of last year.

Peter Sabiston, prosecuting, said: ”The Crown say that there was a serious risk of disorder and there were children outside at the time.”

Alex Bousfield, defending, said there had been an earlier incident with two men and Morrow wanted to protect himself without harming anybody.

Mr Bousfield added: ”He was drunk. He was not going out to threaten people with a knife.”

He was a hardworking family man in a responsible role and he had been offered a new job with a company which had 30 sites.

Judge Howard Crowson said that it was a matter of some regret that the court had no information about two men who attacked him.

One had a motorcycle and the second man hit him over the head with an object.

The judge said: ”I am prepared to take a chance with you.”

Morrow, of Wynyard Road, Hartlepool, was given a 12-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work and also ordered to pay £120 prosecution costs after he pleaded guilty to having a bladed article a knife in public.

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