Creepy clown ex growls exterior mum’s dwelling earlier than hacking entrance door with axe

A mum was left terrified after her ex dressed as a creepy clown, growled outside her home and hacked her door with an axe, leading to an 18-month community order

A mum-of-three was left terrified after her axe-wielding ex showed up at her front door dressed as a creepy clown before growling and hacking at the wood. Pawel Rabel, 47, launched a campaign of harassment against his former partner between December 2023 and October 2025.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how the nightmare reached a boiling point on October 20 just before 9pm, when the victim spotted a bag of gifts left on her doorstep.

Prosecutor Alban Brahimi described the spine-chilling moment the victim checked her entrance, only to spot Rabel standing three metres away in a terrifying clown costume and mask while acting in a “menacing manner, making growling noises”.

Chilling doorbell footage played to the court showed the dad speaking briefly in Polish, confirming to his horrified ex who was behind the mask.

After she slammed the door and instructed her kids to unplug their Ring doorbell, Rabel repeatedly struck the front door with an axe, leaving visible scratch marks on the surface.

Later that evening, the victim found a yellow Aldi bag dumped in her garden containing the clown mask and a handwritten card.

She has since been diagnosed with depression following the incident, with a victim impact statement revealing it caused her to have a mental breakdown.

Police tracked down the intoxicated former bus driver in his van during the early hours of October 21, seizing the axe used during the attack.

Despite the weapon being recovered, Rabel maintained that it was plastic and claimed he had only visited to drop off a birthday card.

Defending, Adrian 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.”

He added that Rabel accepted it gave the impression of a real weapon and was “stupid to carry it”, adding his client had an “insistence and hope” that the relationship could be saved.

Speaking through his barrister, Rabel said: “I hope with all my heart that time will heal matters.”

However, the judge dismissed claims the weapon was fake, saying: “I would not expect a plastic axe to scratch.”

The court heard how the couple had been together for eight years from 2014 and share two biological children and a step-child.

Tensions had soared prior to the clown incident after Rabel uploaded a past row between the pair to YouTube.

He was also spotted near their children’s school in a distinctive van, left cash and parcels outside her house and even rocked up uninvited to her son’s jujitsu lesson, ignoring a non-molestation order.

Mr Brahimi said the stalking was “persistent” over a prolonged period, causing the mum severe “fear, harassment and distress.”

Rabel, of High Street, Tonbridge, admitted possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, stalking without causing fear, alarm and distress and criminal damage. Two further counts were ordered to lie on file.

Sentencing, Mr Recorder Andrew Walker handed Rabel an 18-month community order, 90 hours of unpaid work and 15 hours of rehabilitation activity sessions.

The defendant was also ordered to pay £300 in compensation at £25 a month and was hit with an eight-year restraining order banning him from contacting his ex or entering Tunbridge Wells.

Recorder Walker said: “These offences are so serious that nothing less than a community order is justified.”