A man was removed from Masterton District Court and remanded in custody after swearing at the police prosecutor. Robert Selwyn Lendrum denied charges of possessing an offensive weapon and intentional damage.
His lawyer James Elliott said the charges arose from an incident when a carload of people had turned up at Lendrum's house one evening. He had felt threatened and grabbed a tomahawk from a kindling pile outside, and threatened the people in the car.
He had also let the handbrake of the vehicle off, allowing the car to run into a nearby tree.
Lendrum shouted from the dock as prosecutor Sergeant Garry Wilson was reading a summary of facts.