A POLICE officer climbing a ladder to reach a suspect locked in a bedroom was threatened with a meat cleaver and a knife, a court heard.

Adam Hall appeared with the weapons in the bedroom window of his home in Peterlee, shouting: “If anyone comes in they will get it.”

Durham Crown Court was told the officer on the ladder, making his way up to the bedroom, tried to talk him down.

But Hall leaned from the window and made a cutting motion with the knife, indicating that’s what any officer entering would receive.

Chris Wood, prosecuting, said the constable climbing the ladders retreated and it took the arrival of armed officers before Hall followed instructions to drop the weapons and leave the house.

Dr Wood said police were seeking Hall on November 8, following a theft from a parked car the previous day.

Hall, 24, of Balliol Close, Peterlee, admitted affray. arising the short stand-off.

Neil Bennett, mitigating, told the court: “This was not a prolonged incident and came to an end voluntarily.

“He was instructed to drop the knives and walk out of the front door, and he did so. No force had to be used.”

Mr Bennett said at the time Hall had relapsed into drug misuse, having managed to go four years crime and substance-free.

Jailing him for nine months, Judge Jonathan Carroll told Hall: “This must have been terrifying for the officer on the ladder.

“You only appear to have come to your senses when the armed officers arrived and you realised you were in no position to take them on.”