A victim has slammed a judge’s “shocking” decision not to jail a father who rammed his car and threatened to burn his fingers off with a blowtorch.

Darren Holford, 26, used his car to repeatedly ram the rear of a vehicle in Colne Road, Halstead, on November 16 last year.

After the victim reported the incident to police, Holford tracked him down and said: “I will tie you up to a tree and burn your fingers off with a blowtorch.”

At Chelmsford Crown Court, Judge Patricia Lynch granted the victim a five-year restraining order against Holford, formerly of Halstead, but now of Broomfield, Silver End.

At an earlier hearing, the father-of-two admitted two counts of threatening a witness, one count of dangerous driving and three counts of driving while disqualified.

Judge Lynch sentenced Holford to 12 months in prison for dangerous driving, 12 months for each count of witness intimidation and four months for each count of driving while disqualified.

The sentences are to run concurrently, but were suspended for two years.

See this week's Halstead Gazette for the full story.