A man was warned by his partner on a video call to dodge an axe being swung at him.

He was also subjected to abuse after crossing the road in front of a man, leading to an altercation.

Carly West, 45, of Puxey Lane in Puxey appeared before Weymouth Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, July 25.

He pleaded guilty to using abusive and insulting words with intent to provoke unlawful violence and possessing a sharp-pointed article in a public place.

The charges refer to an incident on January 26 on East Street in Blandford, where he shouted abuse at victim Royston Waller.

Tara Olney, prosecuting, said: “The victim Mr Waller was crossing the road in front of the defendant’s car.

“He received abuse from the passenger of the car, which was not the defendant.

“The passenger shouted ‘your mother is a ****’.

“The passenger then followed the victim.

“Mr Waller was on FaceTime to his partner whilst he was walking.

“The defendant then got out of the car and took with him a handheld foot-long axe with him.

“A witness saw the axe swung three times at the victim

“Mr Waller’s partner shouted “Roy, axe!” as they could see it behind him.

“Mr Waller said he had to jump out of the way to avoid being injured.

“West said he was holding the axe above his head, he denied swinging the axe at the victim.

“He said he only pointed the blunt edge at the victim, saying ‘I am not a murderer, I did not want to kill him’

“He said the victim had abused him previously that day.

“The language used was ‘I will kill that ****'.”

Simon Lacey, mitigating, said: “This was completely out of character.

“He made an early admission at the police station and went in voluntarily.

“He has an injury to his knee which has caused him not to sleep properly for months.

“His partner has said he has started to get ‘snappy’ because of a lack of sleep.

“The victim started to argue with a friend of his, he should have driven off but instead he flipped.

“He thinks this was an error of judgement and he is sorry for what happened.

“Something just caused him to snap.”

West was committed to prison for six months, suspended for two years.

This included requirements of 15 days of rehabilitation activities and mental health treatment for 12 weeks.