A DESPERATE man who threatened to blow up his home of three decades in a protest over bedroom tax.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Michael Hilton, 52, had barricaded himself into the property on Meadoway, Church, Accrington.

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Protests outside Burnley Crown Court

And when bailiffs arrived to evict him, Hilton told them he had booby-trapped it with gas canisters, LPG and petrol.

He also sprayed petrol on the stairs and later claimed he had doused himself in fuel, but was seen smoking.

Hilton was given a 10-month jail term, but has been in custody for four months and will now be free in about two weeks.

The defendant admitted threatening to destroy or damage property and criminal damage.

Sara Dodd, prosecuting, told the hearing Hilton was the sole tenant of 14 Meadoway and was in rent arrears.

He owed more than £900 and had been served with an eviction notice.

Miss Dodd said a bailiff and an anti-social behaviour investigator went to the house on June 4, knocked on the door and got no response.

However, the defendant was seen in a bedroom, saying he was not going to come out – adding that he had booby-trapped the house with gas canisters, LPG and petrol. Miss Dodd said: “He would later claim he had doused himself in petrol, but he was seen to be smoking cigarettes.”

Police and the fire service were called and the fire service was deployed for over four hours.

There was a stand-off until the fire service put a detector through the letter box to test the levels of noxious gases inside the property.

It detected substances, but they weren’t of an explosive level and the house was broken into.

Miss Dodd said by this time, 10 police officers and police community support officers were at the scene along with 14 specialist police officers, as well as two fire engines.

Miss Dodd said the fire service was at the incident for more than four hours, at a cost of £2,600.

The court also heard Hilton had 17 previous offences on his record.

Philip Holden, defending, said: “It was born out of utter frustration on his part over dealings with the authorities.

“He’s lived in the house for over 30 years.

“He considered it to be his home and he got into arrears because of a change in the law that required him to pay a tax because there were too many bedrooms in his house. He was unable to pay it and so the process started.”

Passing sentence, Judge Jonathan Gibson told the defendant: “Certainly, I’m not sentencing you at all for any form of protest, but only for the criminal offences you committed.”

He added: “The level of response seems to me to be entirely appropriate, looking at it from an independent point of view.”

But protesters gathered outside the court to voice their anger at what they called ‘unjust behaviour’ towards Hilton.

Hilton was also supported by his son Johnny, wife Jacqueline and two nieces.

Johnny, 29, said: “The response of the emergency services was out of proportion, but I cannot criticise them for responding because they believed life was endangered.

“At the end of the day, it was an empty threat. My dad was just trying to stop the bailiffs entering.

“I think my dad has been made a bit of a scapegoat.”