'Prank' blasted family's door in

A MAN dressed like Crocodile Dundee let off a homemade industrial firework outside a family home as part of a 'stupid prank' a court heard.

Mark Schiavo, (53), of Ashton Road, Oldham, was sentenced to 42 months' imprisonment after pleading guilty to five counts - causing an explosion likely to endanger life, being in possession of a bladed article in a public place, possession of class C drugs with intent to supply, possession of counterfeit £20 notes and possession of ammunition.

At 2.45pm on April 30, Schiavo planted the firework which scorched the porch and blew the door of the family home on Victoria Avenue, Blackley, into the hall.

Three members of the family of four - a mother, her 28-year-old daughter and 25-year-old son - were inside. The husband and father was at work.

The explosion caused £12,000 damage to the house and wrote off a Mitsubishi car parked on the driveway.

Schiavo was seen leaving the blast towards a nearby block of flats wearing a distinctive cowboy hat, long leather jacket and shorts. He was also seen near the flats hiding a knife in a bush.

He was arrested shortly after by police - he told them that his outfit was a Crocodile Dundee fancy dress outfit for a party he was attending.

A search of his premises the following day on Ashton Road East, Oldham revealed 25 boxes (17.75kgs) of Phenazepam - the Russian equivalent of Diazepam - tablets in his loft worth £43,000 and £28,460 counterfeit currency.

Further investigation found long black ammunition cartridges, dismantled fireworks in the lounge, 47 boxes of fireworks in an outhouse and 143 fireworks in van that he owned.

Martin Callery, defending, said that Schiavo was struggling with grief after the deaths of his mother and grandmother and that he was consuming a cocktail of drugs and alcohol daily at the time.

He maintained that the attack was a stupid prank and the victims had not been directly targeted.

But Judge Richard Mansall QC rejected the 'prank' excuse: "The damage was not the worst part for the victim. The worst part was that he could not understand why anyone would want to target him in this manner."

A statement from the father, read at Manchester by Crown Court by prosecutor Robert Hall said: "When I left my house I never dreamed someone would put something through my front door to try and hurt my family inside. I still can't believe it. I don't know if we will ever feel safe in that home again."