A MAN who almost lost an arm following a machete fight with his step-brother has been jailed.

Tyson Petch armed himself with the large weapon as simmering tension with Steven Petch boiled over into brutal violence.

The pair clashed last year just days before their father died of cancer, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 24-year-old came off worst in the violent confrontation suffering a deep laceration to his arm.

Sam Faulks, prosecuting, said the pair fought in the street just behind Guisborough town centre at around 11am on December 4 after the step-brothers both wandered the streets armed with large, machte-style weapons.

He said: "In CCTV he can be seen carrying a machete-type knife and this is quite brazen; it's down by his side, no attempt to disguise it and it is in a residential street in broad daylight.

"Steven Petch was also seen with a significant machete. The police received a call saying two men were fighting each other."

Mr Faulks said the defendant suffered a significant injury to his arm as a result of the fight and police recovered his machete from underneath a vehicle parked nearby.

He told the court that Petch had a number of previous conviction for violence, including common assault and battery.

Petch, of Kindlewood Gardens, Guisborough, pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article.

Simon Walker, in mitigation, said his client had done an 'awful lot of growing up' on the past six months after nearly losing his arm and had now launched his own skip hire business.

"This young man, as a result of what happened to him on that date, has turned a corner in his life," he said.

He said Petch now acted as a carer for his partner and he was still recovering from the injury he suffered.

"For a significant period of time, he had no control or use of his right, dominant, arm. Since then he has set up home with his partner and is in recovery in relation to his arm.

"He lost his dad a couple of days after this incident and the impending loss of his father to cancer only served to raise the temperature between him and his step-brother."

Judge Howard Crowson said: "He has suffered a great deal but that is what happens when people knives out on the street."

Mr Walker replied: "He has learned the hardest lesson." The judge said: "It could have been the other way around – you don't take a machete to a conversation do you?"

The judge sentenced Petch to eight months in prison saying: "The fact you found yourself with such a significant wound is good evidence of what happens when people arm themselves with large bladed weapons."

He added: "You joined yourself in a knife fight and you lost."

  • His step-brother Steven Petch is expected to appear in court for his role in the violence on a date yet to be fixed.