A SPURNED boyfriend who stabbed himself in the stomach in front of his terrified former partner walked free from court after a judge told him that he should get over the split.
Police shot Michael Tierney, 24, with a Tasar stun-gun to stop him harming himself further after he yelled at officers: “Come near me and I’m going to kill myself.”
Tierney was in the street, in a blood-soaked T-shirt, when emergency crews arrived on the scene in Clynes Road, Eston, near Middlesbrough, during an afternoon in March.
When he was arrested, Tierney was taken to hospital to be assessed for mental health problems, but was later deemed fit enough by doctors to be interviewed by detectives.
He told police he was suffering from depression after the break-up with partner Katie Duffy, and took the kitchen knife to injure himself, Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday.
Sue Jacobs, prosecuting, said that at no point did Tierney make any threats towards the police, but he shouted: “Don’t come near me, I’m going to f***ing stab myself.”
The court heard that the drama, on March 5, came less than four months after he was given a suspended prison sentence for another incident involving Miss Duffy.
In November last year, Tierney was dealt with for offences of affray and causing criminal damage, when he was again armed with a knife, said Mrs Jacobs.
He sent Miss Duffy a text message saying he was going to hurt her and kill himself before he turned up at her home, smashed a window and threatened her new partner.
Tierney, of St Patrick’s Close, Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a bladed article and breaching the suspended sentence.
Judge Peter Fox, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, ordered the suspended term to continue, and imposed an additional two-year community order with supervision.
He told Tierney: “That is so the Probation Service can keep an eye on you, and to stop you sticking a knife in yourself.
“You have got to leave any lingering thoughts of your relationship with Katie Duffy behind you.
“It wasn’t good for you and it wasn’t good for her.
“We cannot have you in the public streets with a knife, whether to use it on yourself or anyone else.
“You realise that now, don’t you?”
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