A thug who threatened to kill his grandmother and cut her cat’s head off and post it through her letterbox before burgling his mother’s home has been locked up.

Brandon Lee made the vile threats when he turned up on the doorstep of his grandmother’s Darlington home when he returned from Blackpool both homeless and hungry.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 22-year-old threatened to ‘kick the door off its hinges’ before being allowed into her home.

Once inside he became agitated and started threatening to kill his grandmother and chop her cat up.

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The judge heard how he threw a plant pot at a window as he left her home at around 3pm on March 1 this year.

Around 90 minutes later his mother returned to her home to find him inside and graffiti scrawled on the walls and on a photograph.

Lee was arrested the following morning and threatened to ‘smash up’ both his grandmother and his mother’s home when he was released.

In a victim impact statement, Lee’s grandmother said she feared he would carry out his threats and was terrified about him turning up on her doorstep again.

The Northern Echo: Brandon LeeBrandon Lee (Image: Durham Constabulary)

The 22-year-old, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, criminal damage, burglary and threats to cause criminal damage.

Ian West, mitigating, said his client had returned to Darlington while homeless and hungry after living in Blackpool.

He said: “He hoped to get help from family members but he wasn’t going to get it from the way he went about asking for it.

“Threatening to kill someone is always a serious offence because the purpose of the offence is to cause them to take them seriously.

“The threats to smash up their homes while in the police station is the behaviour of a 22-year-old who needs to grow up.”

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Judge Chris Smith sentenced Lee to two years in custody for all offences after hearing how his behaviour had impacted on his grandmother when he ‘cruelly’ threatened to cut her cat’s head off.

“It left her very upset and I doubt she will ever forget this episode,” he said.

“When the police arrested you the following morning, you really couldn’t have cared less, or so it seems, as you continued to make these threats while in the police station.”

Lee was also issued with a five-year restraining order to keep him away from his mother and grandmother.