Trained negotiators had to be called in after a husband barricaded himself into the family home armed with a knife.

John Wreford, of Coppins Lane, Clacton, had been drinking heavily and after a row was asked to leave and hand in his keys.

But he later returned, broke in, and locked himself into the lounge using furniture and refused to come out.

Wreford, 40, admitted a charge of affray at an earlier hearing and appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday for sentence.

Mark Halsey, prosecuting, said Wreford's wife Paula had returned with her children to the home at 11am on May 5 to find her husband had been drinking.

There was an argument after he admitted selling some of the children's CDs and computer games and she demanded he hand over his keys and leave before she went out again.

Mr Halsey said: "She returned at 3.45pm, found the defendent had broken a pane of glass and got into the house.

"He had barricaded himself into the living room and removed the door handle.

"He pushed a knife through the hole where the handle should have been," he said.

Mr Halsey said it was a six-inch knife belonging to Mrs Wreford's brother, a butcher. The court heard he ran the knife up and down the hole, shouting "Have I got you yet?". Police were called and eventually trained negotiators were brought in who tried to calm him down but were threatened with being stabbed before CS spray was used to bring him under control.

Catherine Bradshaw, mitigating, said Wreford, who has been staying at a bail hostel since the incident, had been drinking and did not remember much about the incident.

She said he had spent his time at the hostel tackling his alcohol problem.

Recorder Martyn Royall told Wreford he could have been sent to prison for the offence but because he had made such progress in dealing with his problems he would impose a community rehabilitation order for two years which includes treatment for his alcohol dependency.

By Lauren Spurgeon

Reporter's e-mail: lauren_spurgeon@thisisessex.co.uk

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