ARMED police were called to a street after a man with a large knife in one hand and a screwdriver in the other started threatening violence.

Children were playing when Ryan Meek, high on amphetamine, knocked on a householder’s door and told him: “I’m going to hurt someone.”

Nik Strobl, prosecuting, said the 37-year-old, from Abertillery, informed him he believed his family were in danger and that people were chasing him.

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He told Cardiff Crown Court: “The man shut the front door and called the police. He describes the defendant’s behaviour as bizarre as he was walking down the street.

“He was trying to hide from quad bikes that were passing, but there was nothing to hide behind.”

Mr Strobl said an armed police unit was sent to Swffryd on Sunday, December 1, 2019 and Meek was arrested.

Judge Daniel Williams was told the homeowner had been left “really shaken up, shocked and fearing for his safety”.

The defendant, of Valley View, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing an offensive weapon.

Mr Strobl said Meek had 27 previous convictions for 57 offences, including wounding, actual bodily harm and robbery.

Suzanne Payne, representing the defendant, a carpenter, said: “His best mitigation are his early guilty pleas.”

She added: “His mental health has always been fragile. He wants help and he wants help in the community.

“He has the support of his family and his sister is a nurse. There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in this case.”

Mrs Payne urged the court to suspend the inevitable custodial sentence.

Judge Williams told Meek: “You have previous convictions for 57 offences, some of them for serious violence.

“You were under the influence of amphetamine which triggered a psychotic episode.

“This is too serious for anything other than an immediate term of custody.”

He jailed him for 12 months and told him he must pay a victim surcharge upon his release from prison.