Court

AXE RAMPAGE SPECIAL REPORT:
Prosecutor Reveals Details Of Violent Spree
Thur 5th July 2012 , Yellow Advertiser

A PROSECUTION barrister has detailed Paul Hyde's axe-wielding rampage.

Michael Fraser described how Hyde had threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend, then smashed up neighbours' houses and cars and threatened their lives.

The day after girlfriend Alison Hall dumped him by text message, Hyde returned to their shared home in Patricia Gardens to collect his things.

Ms Hall arrived home and found Hyde in the house.

In front of Ms Hall, Hyde began swallowing paracetamol tablets and washing them down with Jack Daniels whiskey.

He then threw a bottle of beer against a wall and threw a microwave across the floor.

He located an axe in the house with a metre-long handle, told Ms Hall he would kill her mother and brother, then smashed the microwave and the oven hob with the weapon.

Telling Ms Hall he would kill her, he began strangling her with both hands.

He told her: “You and me are going to die in here tonight together because I love you.”

He told Ms Hall he had a can of petrol in his car and that he would burn the house down with the pair of them locked inside.

Hyde ripped the phone from the wall, smashed a television and strangled Ms Hall two more times.

Prosecutor Michael Fraser said: “What he did next scared her to a great extent and she thought she might die.”

Mr Hyde turned on the gas oven, then struck the hob with the axe and smashed up the gas metre.

When Ms Hall tried to call police, Hyde held the axe over her and told her: “Give me your f****** phone or I'll put the axe over your head.”

He then left the property and began smashing it up from the outside.

Ms Hall took the opportunity to flee.

Hyde then smashed up her red Ford KA and turned his attention to next-door neighbour Pauline Hilton, smashing her front door and lounge windows.

After entering the property, he struck Ms Hilton in the face twice with the back of his hand and threw her dog across the living room.

Ms Hilton fled to the home of neighbours Trevor and Lisa Hill.

Hyde smashed up Mrs Hill's blue Ford Focus and was heard shouting: “Who's shopped me to the PDSA?”

A neighbour, Mr Stacey, saw Patricia Hilton's daughter Gemma pull up in a red Peugeot 207 and shouted for her to drive away.

However, concerned at the sight of her mother's smashed up home and car, she went inside the property.

Mr Hyde followed her in with the axe and threatened her. Ms Hilton had to barricade herself in a toilet.

He was eventually apprehended after police shot him in the chest with a rubber bullet.

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