A HANDYMAN who said he had been driven to despair by a campaign of harassment against him has been jailed for eight months after taking the law into his own hands.

Scott Andrew, 42, from The Chantrys, Farnham, confronted a man he believed to be the culprit – and pressed the blade of a kitchen knife to his throat, Guildford Crown Court heard.

The other man Stephen Ellingham suffered cuts to his hands as he tried to fend off the attack in the street, the court was told last Friday.

And when Andrew, who was described in court as a construction worker but according to the internet runs his own handyman business, was later arrested, he expressed no remorse, saying: “Next time I’ll do it again, for real.”

Mr Alex Williams, prosecuting, said: “There were blood droplets in the street.”

The court was told that the violent incident happened in the street at The Chantrys, Farnham, on January 27 this year.

Andrew appeared for sentencing after pleading guilty to having a bladed article and to assault causing actual bodily harm.

Mr Williams said trouble started after the defendant bumped into the victim in the street.

“The defendant claimed that the victim shoulder-barged him and said: ‘What are you doing here?’” he said.

Mr Williams said that Andrew then went to a nearby property and returned carrying a kitchen knife which he pressed against Mr Ellingham’s throat.

“Mr Ellingham got cuts to his hands as he forced the blade away from him,” he said.

Mr Williams said: “This was in a public street and there was a degree of pre-meditation in that he went to get the knife.”

A probation report presented to the court said: “There has been history between Mr Andrew and a friend of the victim. Mr Andrew feels very aggrieved.”

The report added: “He wanted to teach the victim a lesson not to mess with him and his family. He has no regrets about doing it but expressed regret that it had got to that point.”

The court heard that the defendant told a probation officer: “He pushed me.”

The probation report added: “He clearly dislikes the victim and says he will not pay any compensation to the victim.”

Sarah Roberts, defending, said problems had arisen over the sale of a van involving her client and a friend of Mr Ellingham.

As a result, she said, the defendant and his family had been the target of abuse and egg-throwing incidents.

“Several reports have been made to the police but little has been to stop this campaign against him and his family,” said Ms Roberts.

She added: “He snapped and took the action he took. It was an act of desperation on his part.”

Andrew was sentenced to a total of eight months in prison on both counts – the two jail terms to run concurrently.

Judge Christopher Critchlow said the “provocation” that the defendant had endured was a mitigating factor.

“The sentence is half what it otherwise would have been,” he said.

Judge Critchlow told Andrew: “You should not have taken the law into your own hands.”