Drunk Willenhall man used his own baby as a human shield

[dutchman]

A knife-wielding drunk used his six-week-old baby as a human shield to stop police from Tasering him.

Anthony Keenan picked the child up in one hand and a knife in the other and tried to stab officers who had been called to a domestic incident.

Keenan, 23, of Rangemoor, Willenhall, Coventry, was Tasered once, and then used the baby as a shield when officers aimed their weapons at him again.

He only calmed down enough to be arrested when an officer he knew turned up.

And at Warwick Crown Court, Keenan was jailed for two years after he admitted affray.

Passing sentence, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said: “You had had far too much to drink, and what happened which makes it much more serious is that you went into the living room with your child in one hand and an eight-inch kitchen knife in the other and were threatening towards the police.

“When an officer drew his Taser and told you to drop the knife, you began to use your own baby as a shield to protect you. It is hard to imagine a more serious affray.

“If you bring a knife to an incident and brandish it people can be killed, no matter what your intention; but what is of even more concern is the danger your child was put in.”