A KNIFE-WIELDING man who threatened to stab his friend in a drunken rant is now behind bars.

Shaun Scanlon, of Festival Avenue, Orford, was jailed for 16 months at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to affray and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The court heard how the 41-year-old had been drinking on the evening of January 12 with the victim, who had offered him a roof over his head so he didn't have to sleep on a park bench.

Mandy Nepal, prosecuting, said: "The victim describes the defendant as being a friend and when he is sober he cannot be a nicer person but when he drinks he is capable of causing serious injury."

At around 10pm the victim went to bed before he was woken up hours later by another friend who said 'you need to sort Shaun out – he's a mess'.

When the victim went to diffuse the situation Scanlon was stumbling and had blood on his lip as he had been injured in a pub fight where he had carried on drinking. 

Scanlon, who was now armed with two knives from the kitchen, threatened to stab the victim and made threats against his attackers.

He then made a swiping action with one of the knives which would have cut one of the men in the room if he hadn't been wearing a scarf.

Concerned for the safety of those in the room, the victim put Scanlon in a headlock and tried to pull him away.

The victim then fell into a coffee table leaving him with a three-inch cut to the back of his head

Ms Nepal added: "The defendant was interviewed and he was remorseful for the incident.

"He had little recollection about what had taken place given the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

"He described himself as being 10 out of 10 on an intoxicated level."

Scanlon, who has previous convictions for burglary, theft, and robbery where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison, has apologised in a letter to his friend.

Alison Whalley, defending, said: "If nothing else he is remorseful and he has had the good grace to apologise.

"While he has been in custody – and he has been in custody since the incident – he has been engaging with different courses one of which is the 12 Steps programme which aims to address drug and alcohol addiction as well as Shelter as he no longer has accommodation."

Recorder Richard Hartley, sentencing, told Scanlon that the sooner he grasped his problems the better.