AFTER being terrorised by gangs on the Nunsthorpe Estate, one man took a dangerous decision to arm himself with a claw hammer.

One week before Luke Broughton attacked Kurt Hatfield with the weapon, he had been assaulted by Hatfield and his friend Jamie Halligan.

Scared of it happening again, he took the hammer with him when he decided to go to the shops on Beechwood Avenue with his girlfriend on November 2.

When Broughton and his girlfriend came out of the shops, he saw Hatfield and Halligan with others, and heard one of them shout: "There's that kid from last week."

Another said: "Give me the blade."

The court heard he feared he would be stabbed and he took the hammer out of his pocket. Kurt Hatfield said: "What are you going to do with that?" and Broughton swung it towards him, hitting his head.

Broughton (23), of Withern Road, admitted causing actual bodily harm to Hatfield.

Mitigating, Gordon Stables said: "What happened to him at the hands of gangs such as that of Kurt Hatfield and Jamie Halligan was not uncommon.

"It is also not uncommon that witnesses are very reluctant to come forward."

He described Hatfield and Halligan as "well-known to the police" who are both currently facing prosecutions.

Less than one month after the incident in November, Halligan was handed an anti-social behaviour order banning him from associating with Hatfield in public.

Mr Stables described Broughton as a man who made a "bad judgement" and went "over the top" as he was fearful for himself, his partner and their child.

He has since moved away from the area.

A Humberside Police spokesperson said: "There is nothing wrong with people defending themselves should the unthinkable happen. However, any force exerted should be appropriate and we will take people arming themselves very seriously."

Recorder Paul Reid, sitting at Grimsby Crown Court, sentenced Broughton to a 36-week suspended sentence and ordered him to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £500 costs.