A former social worker was so enraged by a family parking on double yellow lines outside his Whitstable home that he brandished a fencing sword at them.

Drunken Peter Webb, 59, produced the 3ft antique weapon after swearing at the family, which had pulled up in Northwood Road on the evening of April 4.

Magistrates in Canterbury heard that police were called and found Webb asleep upstairs.
At court he admitted possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

Prosecutor Natalie Brown said the family had parked in Northwood Road at 7pm so they could visit friends and were confronted by Webb, who yelled abuse at them from an upstairs window.

“The witnesses say the defendant came out of the house armed with the sword and was waving it around,” Miss Brown said.

“He was also shouting and swearing at them. The defendant only went back into his house when he believed the police were being called.”

Webb went indoors, stored the sword in his loft and went to bed.
Police found the weapon and arrested Webb.

Miss Brown went on: “He said he was drunk at the time and said people had been parking on double yellow lines outside his house since last year.

“The family involved say they had been terrified by the defendant and that their daughter was crying.”

The court heard that Webb, who used to work as a supervisor of social workers for Kent County Council, has a previous conviction for drink driving.

Lucy Welsh, defending, said the sword was an antique with a rubber tip on the end.

She said: “It does not have sharp edges, but he accepts that the complainants would have been in fear and he accepts that a reasonable person would have been concerned by his behaviour.

“He has been frustrated by people parking outside his house and had taken early retirement after a break down.

“Mr Webb accepts he has been drinking too much and not facing up to his mental health problems.

“This was extremely out of character and he has not consumed alcohol since the incident.”
Webb will be sentenced on May 18.