Paranoid partner demanded paternity test and threatened to split ex's head open with an axe during break in

Oliver Docherty was so suspicious of the woman that he even wanted a paternity test after their child was born, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Having been ordered to stay away from her, he went to her home in Farnley and climbed in through an open window, picking up the axe and pushing her against the wall. He lifted it above his head and said: “If you don’t tell me the truth, I’m going to stick it straight through your head.”

Prosecutor Robert Galley said they were in a relationship for around three years, but he later became verbally and physically abusive.

On October 1 at around 7am she heard banging coming from downstairs so went down to find Docherty at the back door. She threatened to call the police but he ordered her to let him in. When she opened the window to speak with him, he quickly climbed through.

He said he wanted to speak with her about a text message he had received, which led Docherty to believe she was seeing another man.

The 27-year-old then picked up the axe, but she pushed him away. The woman’s brother, who was staying at the house to protect her, then came down and tired to calm Docherty down. He dropped the axe but became irate again, picking up a hammer and striking a table with it warning them that he was “going to do something stupid”.

He then left in his van before the police arrived. But when the woman later returned from work she found Docherty in the house again, having smashed a window to get in.

He was arrested and told police during his interview that he had broken into the house, but had “not intention of hurting her”, calling them “empty words”.

Held on remand, he admitted making threats with a bladed weapon in a private place, and criminal damage. He has no previous convictions.

Mitigating, Adrian Pollard said: “There’s no doubt about it, it was obviously a very frightening incident for the complainant and everyone who was witness to it. In no way does he seek to justify the events of that day. He wants to express his sadness and sorrow for the misery he inflicted that day. He can’t put into words how awful his behaviour must have been. He accepts where jail is where he needed to be.”

The judge, Recorder Andrew Haslam KC, told him: “You have spent a long time in your relationship accusing her of being unfaithful. This was no doubt a frightening incident.

"You had the great good sense to plead guilty at the first opportunity. You are remorseful, but this is just too serious to suspend the sentence. People who arm themselves after gaining entry to someone’s house and threaten them, in my judgement, merit a sentence of custody that must be immediate.”

Docherty, of Bangor Place, Farnley, was jailed for 16 months.