A traveller wielded a machete in a stand-off with his father who used a stranger as a human shield in front of shocked onlookers.
Tyson Eastwood then went on the run and wasn't caught until he committing further crimes three years later on the other side of the country and then in Cornwall.
Truro Crown Court heard how 24-year-old Eastwood, of Wheal Jewel caravan site at St Day, evaded justice following the terrifying incident in broad daylight in Plymouth in March 2017.
Eastwood, who was then aged 21, had become embroiled in an altercation with his father, Charlie Eastwood, when a man in his 60s came out of a nearby pet hospital on William Prance Road, Derriford.
Charlie Eastwood grabbed the stranger and held him between them as a shield to protect himself from his son, who was brandishing a machete and shouting “I’m coming to get you”. The dramatic incident was captured on video by a witness.
Eastwood, who claimed he had been hit in the face after being fired at by his father with a catapult, eventually fled the scene in a van. Armed response officers were called and found the weapon in Eastwood’s vehicle when they stopped and arrested him. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
Charlie Eastwood had pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court and was handed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay the bystander £500 in compensation.
Eastwood also pleaded guilty to the more serious offence of making threats with an offensive weapon, but failed to show up for his sentencing hearing and went on the run.
Ian Graham, for the prosecution, told Truro Crown Court: “He wasn’t seen or heard of until February 26 this year, when he was sentenced for motoring offences at West Sussex."
Eastwood admitted failing to stop, having no insurance and failure to provide a specimen and was disqualified from driving for 14 months.
Eastwood was also brought back to Plymouth Crown Court for the 2017 offence involving his father, for which he was finally due to be sentenced on May 4 this year.
On April 23, while on bail, Eastwood committed further crimes in St Day, near Redruth, when he and an accomplice stole machinery worth £1,950 belonging to Frewfix Limited. The incident was captured on CCTV and Eastwood was identified by police and subsequently arrested.
Eastwood pleaded guilty to theft at a court plea hearing, as well as driving while disqualified and having no insurance or a driving licence.
The case was switched from Plymouth to Truro Crown Court where Eastwood was finally sentenced today (Tuesday, June 2).
Mr Graham said: “A video shows two individuals, including the defendant, turning up on a motorcycle to look at what is available in the yard to be taken. A little while later the same individuals come back in a car. The gate padlock was bolt cropped off and they enter and take two items.”
Eastwood has a prolific history of offending going back to 2010, Mr Graham said.
Jason Beal, for the defence, said Eastwood wanted to make the point that his behaviour with the machete was “bravado”.
“He had no intention of using the knife against his father or against any member of the public,” Mr Beal said.
Cornwall Courts latest
“He needs to deal with drug issues. There is an impulsivity to much of what he does.”
Sentencing Eastwood to a total of 20 months for all offences, Judge Simon Carr told him: “The member of the public would have been terrified with your father holding him and unable to get away and someone shouting while holding a very large weapon. It would have caused that person serious alarm and distress.
“You were to be sentenced in 2017 and were granted bail and your reaction was to go on the run. You stayed under the radar as best as you could for almost three years.
“When arrested for driving matters you were again granted bail and committed further offences of theft.”
Want news delivered directly to your inbox? Click here to sign up to our range of daily and weekly newsletters.
You can also get your favourite content via our dedicated smartphone apps.
Judge Carr said Eastwood was not ready to address his heroin addiction issues in the community.
In addition to a prison sentence, Eastwood was disqualified from driving for two years and eight months, and his licence will be endorsed with penalty points.
