A MAN followed a 16-year-old in his car before pulling out a chainsaw and threatening to kill him, a court heard.

Nathaniel Cruickshank, 19, left his victim scared for his life after punching him repeatedly and brandishing the power at him.

Prosecuting, Matthew Mortimer told Bournemouth Crown Court how the victim was walking his girlfriend to work on August 23 when he noticed a black Mercedes following them.

He recognised the car from an incident a few days before when his girlfriend had been harassed.

The defendant raised his index finger and hurled abuse at the pair before driving away.

After dropping his girlfriend at work, the boy noticed the same car following him.

During a verbal exchange, Cruickshank and his male passenger denied harassing the girl before getting out of the car.

The defendant then punched the boy in the shoulder, pushed him to the ground and dug his nails into his neck and back.

Cruickshank told his companion to ‘grab the power tool’, which he pointed towards the victim and at his neck.

The boy said he was terrified and thought Cruickshank was going to kill him.

He said to the defendant: “If you’re going to do something, do it.”

Cruickshank then threw the chainsaw into the car and drove off from the scene at Linden Park junction with Mampitts Road, Shaftesbury. 

Defending, Mary Aspinall-Miles, told the court that the defendant suffers from autism and anger management issues.

Ms Aspinall-Miles said he was not taking his medication at the time of the offence and the effects of taking them since being in prison have been ‘revolutionary’.

She added that when she met with Cruickshank, she was not expecting him to immediately burst into tears, collapse to the floor and say how scared he was.

She said her defendant has been bullied since being in prison and has been spat at by others.

Judge Robert Pawson told the defendant: “You are mentally vulnerable, but you are not a child.

“If you keep acting how you have for the past three to four years you will end up in prison.”

Judge Pawson sentenced Cruickshank to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He must do 40 rehabilitation activity days, 170 hours of unpaid work and is required to complete trail monitoring for six months.