BOLTON MAN POINTED AIR RIFLE AT PARTNER IN DESTRUCTIVE SPREE
Neil Flannery, 43, went on a terrifying spree of destruction after an argument broke out between him at around 1.30am on January 21 this year.Bolton Crown Court heard how this went on for more than 20 hours as he destroyed property, made derogatory remarks about the woman’s disabled daughter and wielded an air rifle.
Flannery watched on in silence via video link from prison as his victim laid bare the experience of having the gun pointed straight at her.
She said: “I’ve been left petrified in ways I never have been before.” She added: “The moment I relive with flashbacks every day and nightmares every night is when someone I did love pointed a rifle at my forehead, looking me right in the eye, saying I’m going to shoot you in the f**king face.” The woman’s statement set out in detail how Flannery had destroyed belongings of great sentimental value to her and left her suffering with long lasting trauma.
She said that though she had received letters from him since, no apology would repair the damage he had done.
At least one of the victim’s disabled daughters had been in the house at the time, and the woman said she feared what Flannery could have done to her.
She said: “No mother or parent should have to go to such lengths to protect their child from that kind of evil.” She said she had been left wondering how someone she had loved could have turned into a “psychopathic monster”.
Earlier in the hearing prosecutor Hannah Forsyth told the court how Flannery had made several remarks about the woman’s daughters during his rampage.
She said that having retrieved the air rifle, Flannery then it would “be funny to see what happens” before shooting himself in the foot.
Ms Forsyth said that Flannery refused to go to hospital and later insulted the woman’s daughter further saying: “I love you but hate her”.
While smashing up property in the house, including setting clothes on fire and throwing around furniture, Flannery also smeared blood on the walls and defecation on the curtains.
Ms Forsyth said that it was after this that Flannery picked up the air rifle again and pointed it at his victim’s face saying he was going to shoot her.
But she said the prosecution accepted that at this point the gun was not loaded.
The pair then struggled over the gun and Flannery mocked his victim further saying: “the only way I’m leaving is with the police.” He was arrested and interviewed by police on January 22 where he gave what Ms Forsyth said was a mixture of no comment interview and “slightly erratic responses”.
Flannery, who has four previous for five offences for damage and assault, eventually pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and criminal damage.
Amy Weir, defending, said no point she made was meant to minimise Flannery’s actions but that he was entitled to credit for his guilty pleas.
She said he was “deeply ashamed and remorseful” and that his behaviour was “reflective of his mental state at the time”.
Ms Weir said Flannery, of Elton Avenue, Farnworth, had struggled with his mental health “for some time” but that he had been working to address his behaviour while in prison.
She said that though letters he had been sending to his victim from custody were not appropriate, they had been well intentioned.
Judge Abigail Hudson reminded the court that this was “in any view, an extremely prolonged incident” in which Flannery had caused £1000s worth of damage.
She also noted that “much of this was also in front of a child with significant vulnerabilities”.
The court was further informed about fears that witnesses could be denied justice due to trial backlogs.
Judge Hudson told Flannery that the way he shot himself in the foot right in front of his victim clearly caused fear.
She also said that although the air rifle was not loaded when he pointed it at her, the woman herself believed that it had been.
Flannery was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and was given an indefinite restraining order preventing him from contacting or approaching his victim.
She concluded by thanking those involved and the victim for reading her statement so carefully and helpfully.
