Swaffham man 'drove home after axe attack', King's Lynn Magistrates' Court is told

What should have been a great night at a concert became a nightmare for a Swaffham man when he was attacked by his girlfriend with an axe, a court has heard.

William Edward Clarke’s partner reacted violently when the two had an argument over her alleged infidelity, magistrates in Lynn were told on Monday.

However, it was Clarke, 36, who ended up in court after he drove away from the concert at the UEA in Norwich to escape the argument and police were tipped off that he was drink-driving.

He was stopped in his LDV campervan on the A47 at Dereham on November 24 and failed a roadside breath test.

A later test showed he had 64 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, almost twice the legal limit of 35.

Clarke, of Station Street, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.

But mitigating solicitor Tim Bartlam, who showed the bench his client’s alleged injuries and damage to the campervan, successfully argued the circumstances should allow the bench to look outside their sentencing guidelines for the breathalyser reading and be lenient.

Mr Bartlam said the couple had been going to see The Levellers, adding: “Mr Clarke had had three or four pints but during the course of the evening he felt unwell and went back to the van and went to bed.

“On the return of his girlfriend, an argument started as he had recently found out that she had been unfaithful. Unfortunately that led to the girlfriend becoming out of control.

“She set about him with a small axe, used to chop wood for the fire [in the campervan]. She attacked him and she attacked the van. He was struck on the leg a number of times and, I understand, on the thigh.”

Mr Bartlam claimed his client managed to get the woman out of the van, where the incident continued, before she left the scene.

He then took the decision to leave in the van, which Mr Bartlam claimed was understandable in the circumstances.

He went on: “Had it not been that he travelled some distance there might have been a special reason why you shouldn’t disqualify him but he had not got his thinking head on at the time and was driving home.”

Mr Bartlam said Clarke’s life as a self-employed painter and decorator would “change significantly” as a result of the inevitable driving ban.

Chair of the bench Meher Vanner told Clarke: “For these unusual circumstances we are going to come out of our guidelines and we are going to give you a 12-month disqualification.”

He was also fined £179 and ordered to pay £85 costs plus a £30 victim surcharge.