A KINGSTEIGNTON axe wielding attacker has been jailed after he aimed the weapon at the neck of a police officer who was called to a domestic incident at his home.

Mental hospital worker Christopher Harper armed himself with the axe and a sword during the incident outside his house in Kingsteignton which led to police being called by his terrified partner.

Police Sergeant Mark Smith tried to taser him unsuccessfully and was then pursued back to his police car by Harper, who was carrying both weapons and in a drunken rage.

He aimed a blow with the axe at the officer which smashed into his car and came close to his neck. Dramatic bodycam footage showed Sgt Smith reversing his car to try to get away.

Harper was arrested after reinforcements were called to the scene outside his home in Avery Hill in the early hours of September 11 last year.

He had worked for the NHS for 25 years but his work with troubled patients at Langdon Hospital led him to have his own mental health issues which he tried to cope with by drinking.

His long term relationship had broken down and he was in the process of moving out of the shared home when he suffered a crisis which led to the violence, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Harper, aged 49, of Avery Hill, Kingsteignton, admitted attempting to wound police sergeant Mark Smith with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm; possession of an axe and sword, affray, criminal damage to a police car, and harassment of his ex-partner.

He was jailed for four years and eight months by Judge Stephen Climie, who told him that the stress of his work with the NHS had contributed to his mental crisis.

He said: ‘When the officer attended it was apparent to him that you were in a state which suggested a high likelihood of serious violence to somebody if he did not intervene.

‘He attempted to taser you but that failed and as a result he started to go back to his vehicle and escape the immediate incident, you being armed with both an axe and a sword.

‘You struck a very significant blow in which you went to cause really serious bodily harm with the axe which came within inches of the officer’s neck and would have caused a very serious injury indeed.

‘I have to balance that with the mitigation, which is significant. You have a positive good character. The circumstances you were labouring under at the time, combined with your good character, the depression you were suffering and your mental health enable me to reduce the sentence.’

The judge made a 10-year restraining order limiting contact with Harper’s ex-partner after his release.

Miss Kelly Scrivener, prosecuting, said Harper’s partner called 999 and took refuge at a neighbour’s house after becoming concerned about his mental state on the night of the incident.

 Sgt Smith arrived to find a fraught incident and could see that Harper was drunk and had armed himself with the two potentially lethal weapons. He retreated to his police car but the blow with the axe came close to his neck. He was uninjured and Harper was arrested later that night by armed colleagues.

Mr Adrian Chaplin, defending, said Harper had an exemplary work record with the NHS and was doing invaluable work at Langdon, where he remains employed pending the outcome of the case, at the time of this incident.

He started abusing alcohol in a misguided attempt to self-medicate a deterioration in his own mental health and the deterioration of his relationship.

He had sought help shortly before this incident and was due to attend an appointment with an addiction counsellor the next week. The trigger for his crisis may have been looking for his own accommodation after accepting that he needed to move out of his home.