King’s Lynn woman appears in court after threatening neighbour and being caught with knife

A woman narrowly avoided jail after breaching a court order when she was caught with a knife and threatened to shoot one of her neighbours.

Carrie Calton, 40, of Dawber Close in Gaywood, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with two offences.

She pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article in a public place, as well as using threatening or abusive language or behaviour towards a man likely to cause him to believe that immediate unlawful violence would be used against him.

This meant that Calton had breached a nine-month conditional discharge she was handed on February 21 this year.

Magistrates, led by Alan Hayes, told her that her recent offences had passed the threshold for custody – but that it would not be in the interests of justice to send her to prison.

She was instead handed an 18 month community order to provide her with “some sort of help”, while she will complete 20 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days and a 12 month alcohol treatment requirement order.

Her existing conditional discharge will also remain in place.

Crown prosecutor Colette Harper told magistrates that on August 3, Calton returned home with her dog when she met a nearby resident – who also had their own dog with them.

The two dogs began to fight, and when the other man phoned police, officers could hear Calton shouting that she would shoot him.

She was arrested at the scene, and a search revealed that she had a locking knife in her pocket.

In mitigation, Alison Muir told magistrates that Calton is “a lady of some nervous disposition” who has been living in a state of “hell” for the last three years.

“She runs out of the flat and runs back for her own safety,” the solicitor said.

She added that the man Calton abused on the day of her offences is one of a group of “youths” who live in the area who shout at her on a regular basis.

On possessing the knife, Ms Muir added: “She didn’t take it out of her pocket – she didn’t wield it at anybody. It was found when she was arrested.

“It was for gardening and opening cans of dog food.

“It seems to me that the biggest concern that the court has is her distressed state.”

She also argued that Calton should not have to pay any compensation to the man she threatened, claiming that the ordeal was kick-started after he pushed her.

Probation services met with the defendant to carry out a report, and officer Lewis Spicer told magistrates that the man can be “quite abusive” towards Calton.

He added that although her engagement with Change Grow Live counseling in Lynn has been poor in the past, its team is willing to help her again to tackle her issues with alcohol.

Magistrates also told Calton to pay £145 in legal costs and a £114 victim surcharge, while they made an order for the forfeiture and destruction of the knife.