Sheffield yob attacked strangers, police officers and tried to arm himself with Samurai sword during offending spree

A Sheffield man, who carried out a spate of violent offending that saw him viciously attack strangers in the street, assault two police officers and attempt to threaten them with a Samurai sword, has been put behind bars.

Dean Hancock's 15-month long offending spree started in the early hours of January 23 last year, when he and a group of friends began hurling abuse and throwing things at another group of men who had visited the same branch of McDonald's as them in Penistone Road, Hillsborough.

Prosecuting, David Baines, told the court how Hancock's group followed the other out of the eatery and up the street.

After one of the men they were targeting shouted something back, Hancock, of Barry Crescent, Southey Green went up to him and said: "I hear you want a fight."

Mr Baines said: "The defendant punched the complainant to the jaw area.

"The man put his hands his face and said: 'I don't want to fight'. He punched him a [second and] third time, causing his glasses to fall off and smash."

The man suffered a fractured right cheek bone, a broken nose, two black eyes and two cuts to his eyes, which needed to be glued and stitched back together.

On August 1 last year, two police officers went to Hancock's home address to arrest him for previous offences, and were granted entry to the premises by Hancock's mother.

Mr Baines told the court how the officers went into Hancock's bedroom where he was sleeping. They woke Hancock, aged 20, up and told him they were there to arrest him.

After verbally abusing them, he then reached for a Samurai sword that was on his bedroom floor. Fearing for their safety, one of the three officers restrained Hancock by grabbing his wrist, at which point he headbutted the officer in the face.

Hancock also pelted a drinks bottle and cigarette lighter at another of the officers.

Just under two weeks later, Hancock, along with two others, broke into a garage in Watersmeet Road, Walkley in the early hours of August 14.

A witness described seeing Hancock acting as the 'look-out' as the other two attempted to raid the garage for its contents, the court was told.

Then on April 17 this year, Hancock went to visit his sister in Adkins Road. But when she did not answer the door, he started throwing rocks at her house and at her car.

One of Hancock's sister's neighbours, a young woman, came out of her house to ask Hancock what was going on.

"He ran towards her and hit her over the head three times with a piece of wood," said Mr Baines.

He added: "Hancock used the piece of wood to smash her windscreen."

Hancock pleaded guilty to a string of charges including two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage, assaulting an officer in execution of their duty and burglary of a garage at an earlier hearing.

Her Honour Judge Sarah Wright sentenced Hancock to three years in prison, 12 months of which was the activation of a suspended sentence for a previous offence of robbery.