A FORMER soldier who was dragged through the courts after confronting a gang of yobs with a knife was yesterday spared jail.
John Cawley, 54, had been threatened with prison after he snapped following five years of torment from the teenagers.
But he walked free after a sympathetic judge told him his plight had been “intolerable”.
Yesterday, Mr Cawley who served with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, said it was the “first bit of fairness” he had come across.
Earlier, it emerged that the ringleader, 14-year-old Matthew O’Brien, was treated by police to a dream meeting with his Premier League football heroes.
Mr Cawley said: “I’ve never been in trouble with the police before and have served my country yet I am threatened with jail. I know I was wrong to have the knife and I will serve my punishment but I think the system is a farce when you think of the way these kids have been treated with kid gloves.
“These young yobbos deliberately try and get a reaction by antagonising us and then claiming innocence. They know the law can’t touch them. As far as I’m concerned, the law is a complete waste of time.”
Mr Cawley, of Blackburn, Lancs, reported a dozen incidents since 2005 including youths breaking his fence, damaging his driveway posts, dangling from trees in his back garden and hitting his brickwork with hammers.
Preston Crown Court heard the warehouse worker was seen chasing yobs who had been kicking a ball against his wall, saying “If I get hold of you, I’ll kill you”.
But judge Andrew Woolman told him: “I have no doubt that for many years you were subjected to provocation of all types and forms from a large body of youths outside. I appreciate your sense of injustice that nothing is being done by others about making the situation in your street tolerable.”
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