Carpet fitter in drunken rampage

A CARPET fitter who became obsessed with the red light district killings threatened to axe a kerb-crawler to protest against the murders.

John Craig Parry had been drinking for four days before he armed himself with an axe and set off to kill a prostitute client.

South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court heard that the 38-year-old climbed into a police car parked at the junction of Handford Road and London Road at the height of the investigation and showed officers the axe.

Gareth Davies prosecuting said: “HHHe told police 'I have been walking up and down West End Road, there are five girls gone and I'm going to do something about it'. He was going to wait until he saw a male kerb-crawler and he was going to sink the axe into his head”.

Mr Davies said the police took the axe off Parry and arrested him.

Parry of Sirdar Road, Ipswich pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon on December 13 last year.

Parry who represented himself in court told police he was “feeling depressed and stressed” and had been watching the continuous television coverage about the murders. He suffered from clinical depression and had taken anti-depressants on top of a bottle of vodka. Parry had bought the axe three days before he was arrested a court heard.

District Judge David Cooper said Parry said he had disposed of all his garden tools so he would not be tempted again and had sought help from the mental health service.

Judge Cooper said Parry had previous convictions for violence but had been out of trouble since moving from Wales some time ago. He added: “This was a real waste of police time and you made a complete fool of yourself”.

Parry was sentenced to 20 weeks in jail but the term was suspended for a year. He was also told to carry out 150 hours unpaid work.

Parry said: “I love doing community service”.

Parry was also excluded from any Ipswich pubs or clubs for a year and told to pay £55 towards court costs.