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Thanington man Michael Elmstrom jailed after sparking armed police stand-off in row with suspicious girlfriend at Maidstone flat

Michael Elmstrom
Michael Elmstrom

A man who sparked a siege when his suspicious girlfriend confronted him over text messages on his phone has been jailed for 14 months.

A judge told 30-year-old Michael Elmstrom he "totally lost all control of his senses" when his partner accused him of cheating on her.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Elmstrom attacked Catherine Walker-Fare before causing damage in her home in Sutton Road, Maidstone, in the early hours of Saturday, August 17.

When police arrived, he verbally threatened officers and threatened to stab them.

Miss Walker-Fare managed to flee, but then Elmstrom barricaded himself in the flat to such an extent that police negotiators and even firearms officers had to be called in.

During a three-hour stand-off, Elmstrom threatened to kill himself. Officers eventually went into the flat with shields and restrained him.

However, as he was led away, Elmstrom - now of Alfred Close, Thanington, near Canterbury - head-butted a police van.

Jailing Elmstrom, who admitted affray, Judge Philip Statman said: "It is good fortune indeed that no one was injured and that the officers, who clearly could not have known how your volatile behaviour would develop, were also spared from any physical injury.

"This was a serious crime committed by you which well and truly passes the custody threshold."

Police cordon off the flat in Sutton Road, Maidstone
Police cordon off the flat in Sutton Road, Maidstone

The court heard Elmstrom and Miss Walker-Fare had been out drinking the previous evening.

After returning to the flat, they went to bed. But Miss Walker-Fare decided to check Elmstrom's phone.

"She formed the view, rightly or wrongly, that you had in some way cheated on her because there were messages in the texts from another woman," explained Judge Statman.

"She woke you up and slapped you. What followed was an outburst from you of uncontrolled violence, both to her and your address."

Michael Elmstrom was in a five-hour stand off with police at a Maidstone property
Michael Elmstrom was in a five-hour stand off with police at a Maidstone property

The court heard Elmstrom hit Miss Walker-Fare, causing marks to her body, lip and collarbone, but she was not said to be seriously hurt.

Elmstrom, who has previous convictions for battery and breach of a non-molestation order, was also made subject to a restraining order in relation to Miss Walker-Fare.

He denied an offence of criminal damage to property at the flat. This was accepted by the prosecution and ordered to be left on file.

Judge Statman accepted Elmstrom had shown genuine remorse and invited the licensing authorities to help address his anger management issues upon his release.


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