A TRAINER who threatened to rip the legs off a dog after it barked at him also told a man he would stab his partner and child.

Marcus Djaba, 29, shouted at the owner of a dog after it barked at him in Mersea Road, Colchester, on April 5.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard he said: “I’ll rip your dogs legs off, I will kill him, I will rip his f****** legs apart, I will get my dogs – who are bigger and nastier – to rip him apart.”

Further along the road he told another man: “I’m going to stab you, your kid and your missus, don’t you want a black man around your kid?

“I will take out what I have in my bag and stick it in you.”

When Djaba failed to appear at court on October 20, a warrant was issued and days later, on October 29, he fled the officers sent to arrest him.

He handed himself in after three days at large.

Djaba, of Brooklands, Jaywick, admitted two counts of using threatening words or behaviour and escaping from custody.

Alex Davidson, mitigating, said Djaba's escape from the police was “impulsive and unsophisticated”.

“He made an idiotic, stupid decision to run, in particular he was concerned about his partner, his children and his five dogs," he said.

“It was a particularly stressful time in his life, his son was not well, he has a heart issue – so he was more highly strung than usual."

Mr Davidson said the threats were made after Djaba got involved with a disturbance which was already underway.

He added: "It was a highly stressful situation and essentially this big dog started barking at him. He responded with a display of aggression, it was completely unacceptable remarks and words used.”

The court heard Djaba is a father-of-three who takes on neglected rescue dogs and trains them before they can be rehomed.

Judge Patricia Lynch QC decided to suspend an eight month prison sentence for two years, warning Djaba he will be jailed if he commits any further offences.

“I don’t need to tell you what will happen if you so much as drop a cigarette end in the street,” she said.

“It was all about just not thinking the situation through, a lot of people are under stress, pressure and aggravation and they manage to lead perfectly law-abiding lives.”

She called Djaba's behaviour “adolescent and ridiculous” and said his threats to the victims were "appalling”.

“Running away from the police, you must have known you’d get nowhere,” she added.

“And running away because you hadn’t bothered to turn up to a magistrates’ court appearance.”

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