A MAN who sparked a major police alert after he threatened a co-worker with a Samurai sword has appeared in court.
Adam Gannon, 21, of Pickup Street, Clayton-le-Moors, pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon and threatening behaviour.
He appeared before Hyndburn magistrates last Friday – just 48 hours after the incident at the East Lancashire Box Company on Spring Street, Rishton.
In its aftermath a team of 10 police officers, some of them armed and dressed in riot gear, rushed to his home and broke in with a battering ram. The area around Pickup Street was cordoned off for most of the afternoon.
Magistrates heard how Gannon and the other man were involved in a "verbal altercation" which escalated into a fight, during which Gannon pulled out the 20-inch sword.
The man tried to take it off him but found his face within inches of the blade.
Gannon then fled the scene without anyone being injured.
His defence solicitor said: "This was a spontaneous reaction towards the actions of others. The defendant has lost his job because of this incident. Although Mr Gannon admits waving the sword, his co-worker accepts that he wasn’t going to be stabbed."
Gannon turned himself in at Greenbank Police Station, Blackburn, late last Wednesday.
He was remanded on conditional bail for sentence on Friday 28 March following a probation report.
