Man's grenades threat 'exceedingly stupid' - judge

A man who set up fake grenades in his home which led to an eight-hour response from the police and Army has been jailed for 18 months.

Steven Budziszewski, of Washington Road in Sheffield, had received a letter from a utility company warning staff would be executing a warrant due to unpaid bills.

On 18 March, the 56-year-old fixed imitation grenades to a washing line in his flat, which they saw through the letterbox, and shouted, "I'm going to do you, I'm going to kill you," Sheffield Crown Court heard.

He was jailed on Monday, having admitted affray and recklessly causing a public nuisance, with Judge Jeremy Richardson calling his conduct "exceedingly stupid".

When Budziszewski initially shouted at the two workers from inside his home he had been wearing a gas mask, which the judge said was "bizarre".

"They at first thought it was rather laughable, but they weren't taking any chances, and rightly so," he added.

A plastic Claymore mine, smoke grenades, imitation hand grenades, police cordon tape and a number of balaclavas were also found in the flat.

The Ministry of Defence attended the flats in the Sharrow area of Sheffield along with the Army's bomb disposal unit and 37 police officers.

A 100m cordon was put in place and homes within it were evacuated until it was determined the items were all fake.

The disruption lasted about eight hours and cost more than £10,000 of public money, the court heard.

Judge Richardson described him as an "eccentric artist" and a "collector of curiosities".

"Your conduct was exceedingly stupid and has caused an enormous amount of upset and cost to the public purse," he said.

"You must be punished for this stupidity."

Budziszewski is likely to serve a quarter of his sentence in custody which means he may be released in a few weeks, having been held in remand since March.

He maintained a not guilty plea for the charge of placing an article with intent, which was ordered to lie on file.

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