Scarborough thug Barry Jephson had a machete and lump hammer as he banged on the door of his ex-partner and her mum

Barry Jephson, who was high on drink and drugs, travelled from his home in Eastfield to Kirkbymoorside where his ex-partner and her mother lived.

Once there, with his hood pulled over his head and carrying the ferocious-looking combat knife, he banged on the door. Police were called and Jephson was found nearby shortly afterwards, York Crown Court heard.

“The defendant was heavily in drink,” said prosecutor Stephanie Hancock.

“He had some sort of minor facial injury. He was aggressive with the officers (upon) arrest.”

Jephson, 40, was searched in the back of the police van where officers found the hammer and the machete hidden in his clothes. He was taken to Scarborough Police Station where officers found a small amount of cannabis in his pocket.

During police questioning the following day, Jephson claimed he had abstained from alcohol for 18 months but “fell off the wagon” in the run-up to the incident.

He said he had drunk between eight and 10 pints of beer on the day in question, on top of the anti-psychotic medication he had been taking.

He remembered “very little” of the incident because he had been drinking since the early afternoon with a friend in Eastfield.

He said he “didn’t believe” he had gone to Kirkbymoorside with the intention of harming his ex-partner, whom he was banned from seeing for her protection.

In 2016, Jephson was slapped with a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting his ex-partner and her mother, who were both named in court. The order also banned him from entering Kirkbymoorside.

Ms Hancock said he had been in a “volatile”, five-year relationship with his ex-partner.

Jephson, an alcoholic, grew increasingly embittered following their separation, culminating in the incident on February 20 when he went to the home of his ex-partner’s mother, purportedly with another, unnamed man.

Police were called at about 7.30pm to reports of two hooded men banging at the door.

Jephson had a long criminal record with 64 previous convictions for 138 offences including serious and racially aggravated violence, affray, threatening behaviour, theft, public disorder, sending offensive messages, attempted burglary and breaching court orders. He had four previous convictions for weapons offences including wounding and carrying knives.

In March 2019, he was jailed for 10 months after he was involved in a previous machete-and-hammer attack on a taxi office in Scarborough.

Jephson’s ex-partner, 20, said the incident in Kirkbymoorside had left her “petrified and utterly distressed” and led to recurring panic attacks.

The mother-of-one said Jephson had “tormented” her for years and she was convinced he would have “seriously injured me” if he’d have found her in Kirkbymoorside.

She said she had suffered psychological trauma due to Jephson’s behaviour which had “changed me as a person”.

She said she “wouldn’t be here” if she hadn’t escaped from Jephson’s clutches after suffering domestic abuse.

Jephson, of Carrside, appeared for sentence via video link on Tuesday after pleading guilty to carrying an offensive weapon, breaching a restraining order and cannabis possession.

Defence barrister Nick Peacock said Jephson had had “various drink and drug problems for some time” which had exacerbated serious mental-health issues.

Judge Simon Hickey condemned Jephson for a flagrant breach of the restraining order while carrying an “extremely-serious weapon”.

He added: “There is no reason for anyone in this country to be carrying a machete, allied to a lump hammer (and particularly while) heavily in drink. With weapons such as that, it was a mercy that you were stopped (by police).”

Jephson was jailed for three years and made subject to a new restraining order banning him from contacting his ex-partner and her mother and from entering a part of Kirkbymoorside where they lived. This time it was for an indefinite period to provide further protection to the victims.