A member of an armed gang who stormed into a family home to attack a young man following a dispute over a girl has been branded a ‘follower not a leader’.

Kenneth Grange was with the mob who turned up at the house just after midnight and made a ‘frantic’ attempt to get to the man as he hid out of the way.

The 20-year-old was adamant that he didn’t know that his teenage co-accused was armed with a ‘Zombie knife’ when they barged their way into the intended victim’s home.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the man barricaded himself into his bedroom after the gang knocked his grandfather to the ground leaving him with a slash wound to his shoulder.

Dr Christopher Wood, prosecuting, said: “He felt a sharp pain to his shoulder, he turned around and saw a Zombie knife, but he didn’t see what had caused the cut.

“He noticed two other males, one of them was the defendant, his grandson came to the top of the stairs and saw the defendant – he shouted - ‘you fanny come and help your granddad’.

“It was a dispute over a girl and the grandson retreated into his bedroom and barricaded the door closed.”

In a victim impact statement, the pensioner said he had brought up his grandson since the age of three following the death of his mother.

He said: “I feel physically sick when I think about the frantic stab marks on the bedroom door.

“I can’t imagine what would have happened if they got into his bedroom.”

The court heard how the male who was carrying the knife will be dealt with at the youth court for his role in the violent incident.

Grange, of Peirson Street, Redcar, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and burglary following the incident on June 8, 2022, in Ormesby, Middlesbrough.

Gary Wood, mitigating, said his client had significant mental health issues and struggled with his ADHD.

Judge Jonathan Carroll told the defendant that he would have been facing custody if he had brought the large knife when the pensioner was attacked in his home.

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He said: “You invaded somebody’s home with two others over a petty dispute between you all. Having invaded the home, another person led the charge into the house and he pulled out a knife.

“He has been sent back to youth court to be dealt and you were not aware that a knife was brought into the house.

"With all due respect, I consider you a follower not a leader."

Grange was sentenced to 21 months in a young offenders’ institute suspended for two years. He was also ordered to attend 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days and was placed on a monitoring tagged and curfew.