Bizarre HR: Stress ball maker flips out

In an ironic twist, a man who made stress balls for a living got worked up and punched his boss in the face after being asked to leave his job.

Darren Baldwin also pulled a knife on his warehouse manager and threatened to injure other workers who tried to interfere, after he was dismissed from his temporary position at novelty firm SPS, which produces stress balls, The Mirror reported.

“Four or five other staff arrived on the scene where the victim Philip Dilworth had been the victim on an unprovoked attack. Baldwin then produced two knives and Mr Dilworth was in fear of his life,” prosecutor Tracey Yates was reported as saying in Blackpool’s magistrate court.

“Baldwin showed the knives to his colleague worker and started to shout threats like ‘I will cut you up’,” she added.

The court heard Baldwin was arrested after leaving the company premises, and admitted to affray and assault.