Moment axe-wielding dad turns up at ex-partner's home dressed as clown

Moment axe-wielding dad turns up at ex-partner's home dressed as clown Pawel Rabel, 47, from Tonbridge, Kent, showed up at his ex-girlfriend's home in a clown costume and began striking her door with an axe after a 22-month campaign of harassment A dad who turned up at his ex-girlfriend's home dressed as a clown and began smashing her door with an axe has avoided jail. Pawel Rabel, from Tonbridge, Kent, repeatedly harassed the mother of his children over a 22-month period - culminating in a terrifying incident on October 20, 2025, which saw him arrive at her property dressed in a clown costume and mask, striking an axe at her door. At Maidstone Crown Court, prosecutor Alban Brahimi told how Rabel stood three metres from the victim's home, and began acting in a "menacing manner, making growling noises". After shutting the door and telling her children to disconnect the Ring doorbell, the 47-year-old started to slam her door with an axe, leaving scratches on its surface. A victim impact statement read to the court on August 20 said the incident led the mum-of-three to suffer a mental breakdown, and she has since been diagnosed with depression. Several hours after the attack, the victim, found a yellow Aldi bag in the garden, containing the clown mask and a handwritten card. The court heard how in the early hours of October 21, officers found Rabel, who they said appeared intoxicated, and a search of his van revealed the axe used in the attack, which was seized. However, the former bus driver maintained that the weapon was plastic and not real - and that he had only gone to his ex-partner's house to deliver a birthday card. Mr Brahimi said: "The incidents have had a great effect on the victim; it has caused her fear, harassment and distress." The prosecution told the judge how tensions had escalated before the incident, when Rabel uploaded a past argument between the couple onto YouTube. The court heard he was also seen near their children's school in a van, had left parcels and cash outside her home, and turned up uninvited to her son's jujitsu lesson. Mr Brahimi said the stalking of his victim was "persistent" and happened over a prolonged period of time, despite her taking out a non-molestation order. The couple, who share two biological children and one step-child, had been together for eight years from 2014. Adrian Yalland, defending, told the court that Rabel had an "insistence and hope" that the relationship would be rekindled, and he had struggled to accept the breakdown of his family unit. The court heard that Rabel had shown remorse for his actions, and felt a degree of shame that he could no longer be the active parent and father he wishes to be. "I hope with all my heart that time will heal matters," Rabel told his barrister. Mr Yalland said: "My client says this was not a metal axe that was found by police, but it was a toy meat cleaver that came as part of the clown costume." But Rabel accepted that the axe he was holding definitely gave the impression of a real axe, and it was therefore "stupid to carry it". The judge told the court that he believed the scratches came from a metal axe, adding: "I would not expect a plastic axe to scratch." The court heard how the former bus driver, who has no previous convictions, has since stopped working amid court proceedings and has been staying at a bail hostel for six months. Passing sentence, Mr Recorder Andrew Walker said that Rabel would only be prosecuted for three counts out of five, including possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, stalking without causing fear, alarm and distress, and criminal damage to the front door. The other counts were ordered to lie on file. Rabel was handed an 18-month community order, 90 hours unpaid work, 15 hours of rehabilitation activity sessions for the stalking and possession of an offensive weapon, with no separate penalty for damaging the property. He was also instructed to pay his victim £300 in compensation, to be paid at £25 a month, with no court costs or victim surcharge as it has been transferred to compensation. An eight-year restraining order was also imposed, preventing him for contacting his victim or entering Tunbridge Wells, subject to certain conditions. Recorder Walker said: "These offences are so serious that nothing less than a community order is justified."