North Muskham man who threatened to kill wife with shotgun avoids jail and to return to family home
A man who threatened to kill his wife with a double-barrel shotgun has avoided jail and will be returning to the family home tonight.
Steven Minshull's wife was awoken during a night in December last year when she heard her husband's gun cabinet being opened.
Drunken Minshull burst into her bedroom holding a 12-gauge shotgun over his arm, Nottingham Crown Court heard, and said 'I don't want to be here anymore'.
The situation soon escalated and his wife found herself with the shotgun pointed at her, with Minshull threatening her life and her son's, and asking if she was scared.
She saw the gun was loaded and, courageously, said the judge, was able to disarm him and break the gun.
The son, who was sleeping in the house, overheard a struggle and Minshull say 'I'm going to kill you both', and knew Minshull had a means of following through with the threat.
It was only when he spoke with his mother in the morning that he knew of the shotgun threat, and he encouraged her to call the police.
Minshull was arrested on December 14 and police seized three licensed shotguns, along with 2,500 rounds of ammunition.
The prosecution told the court the incident was borne from a heated argument the previous day when a tiler was meant to be coming to the house, but didn't, and Minshull blamed his wife for this.
"Steven says their marriage was completely normal," said the prosecution. "And at the time of the incident he was under a great deal of stress, had just worked 12 consecutive night shifts and two days before the incident his younger brother had just passed away.
"He had been drinking heavily that day and was dependent on alcohol, and his wife left for a few hours but she returned and he was still drinking."
Supporting Minshull at court, his wife was asked if she and her son felt safe knowing Minshull would be returning to the family home after a period on remand.
Judge Stuart Rafferty QC said: "You were confronted with imminent death and you said this was something you were never going to forget. How do you envisage life going on with that in the background?"
She said: "The person that night is not who he is. Everything got on top of him and I still believe it's a one-off."
Judge Rafferty added: "He should be grateful to have such a supportive wife as you."
Sentencing, Judge Rafferty told Minshull to stand up and said: "You for all your life have led a blameless life, a family man and hard-working.
"Stress is a strange thing and capable of making people do strange things. You began to lose your way and only you will know the reasons, but you began to drink to excess — and the day of the offence was no exception.
"Your younger brother had died and his death was not immediate, he suffered from brain cancer and that must have been on your mind, together with all the other things going on.
"You got drunk, had a [heated] argument with your wife and accused her of lying and you wouldn't let it go. She tried to dissuade you but you would not have it and she poured the drink down the sink — but you carried on.
"You had loaded the gun and she did not deserve to be threatened for a single moment. She is absolutely blameless and to say you should be ashamed is putting it pretty low.
"You placed the shotgun under your chin and with remarkable courage she had the presence of mind to take the gun away and to break it — you should be doubly grateful to your wife."
Minshull, 58, of The Park, North Muskham, was charged with two counts of making threats to kill and possessing a firearm with the intent to cause fear of violence. He pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
He had been remanded since his arrested and Judge Rafferty said this would be taken into consideration.
The judge revoked Minshull's firearms certificate indefinitely and ruled he will not be able to apply for one in the future.
He was handed two years in custody, suspended for two years, and was released to go home.
