A MAN armed with a machete showed off the fearsome weapon near a children’s play area and threatened to chop people up with it.

Michael Martin had the blade hidden in a bag as he walked through Tredegar Park in Risca last month.

Abigail Jackson, prosecuting, said he was “topless, unsteady on his feet and slurring his words” when he bumped into brother and sister Ieuan and Nicola Bennett.

She told Cardiff Crown Court: “The defendant asked them if they had seen three younger men and he told them, ‘I’m going to cut them into pieces with my machete’.

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“He then opened a sports bag and the two saw the orange handle of the blade. He didn’t take the machete out of the bag.”

Miss Jackson said Martin, who was also covered in cuts and scratches and had an injury to his eye, then began walking towards a children’s play area.

Mr Bennett was so concerned he called the police who came and arrested the defendant.

The prosecutor said that when Martin was being detained, he asked the officers, “Why are you being like this?”

The court was told the defendant became violent and aggressive and had to be taken to hospital after he started banging his head against the cage of the police van.

Martin, 26, of Brookland Road, Pontymister, Risca, pleaded guilty to having a blade in public on the evening of May 27.

Miss Jackson said he had 17 previous convictions for 31 offences, including common assault and possession of cannabis.

Kevin Seal, mitigating, said his client had endured a traumatic childhood and had been placed in foster care.

His barrister told the court that the defendant feared being made homeless on the night of the incident because he was short of money.

Martin, he said, had also mixed the medication he was taking to help with his mental health with two cans of cider.

Judge Jeremy Jenkins told the defendant: “You had a ferocious-looking curved blade.

“You foolishly mixed your medication with cider. You have had a troubled life and the court is not without sympathy for you.”

He said Martin’s offending was so serious that only a custodial sentenced could be justified and jailed him for 12 months.

Outside the court, the officer in the case, PC Kramer Sloman, of the Blackwood neighbourhood policing team, said: “This sentence should serve as a clear warning that knife crime will not be tolerated on the streets of Gwent. 

"Knives have no place in our communities and we will continue to bring offenders to justice.

“I’d like to thank the members of the community and our partners at Caerphilly County Borough Council for their assistance with our enquiries in this matter.”