A MACHETE wielding drug addict who threatened a mother-of-four with a knife and assaulted a police officer has been jailed.

Richard Lloyd ran towards four men and smashed up a taxi with a 16 inch machete less than two hours after he turned up at a family home armed with a knife, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 23-year-old was sentenced to two years in prison after admitting several offences, including possession of a blade, assault of an emergency worker and criminal damage,

Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said Lloyd committed the violent rampage within a two hour period on April 7 this year.

She said: “The complainant who has four children said at 5.45pm a man appeared at the door asking for her 16-year-old son who wasn’t available. He was holding a brick in his hand and said he wanted payment for the damage caused to his house, which he believed was caused by the son.

“She refused to provide a payment. He told her to watch her house and windows and said he will come back with a machete.

“Around one hour later it was him again. He had a knife in his hand and put it through the window. She called the police and said she was terrified. She went upstairs and saw him smash a window.

“The same evening at 7.10pm he was at his home with his grandma when a taxi came up – the complainant’s taxi – and four men came out. As his passengers got out the defendant ran at them with a large knife.

“They hid in the taxi and the defendant swung for the door which caused some damage. He drove off and saw the defendant with a machete between 14 and 16 inches long.”

She added that when two police officers tried to arrest him two days later he “grabbed one of the officers by the testicles and he had to punch the defendant to release his grip”.

The court heard Lloyd has 15 previous convictions for 24 offences including an assault, grievous bodily harm and battery while he was a youth.

Michele Turner, defending, said Lloyd turned to drugs as a “coping mechanism” while his partner suffered from a mental illness but this “developed into an overwhelming addiction that spiralled out of control and attracted a considerate amount of debt.”

The court heard he is “remorseful for the distress caused” to the first victim and he believed he had to protect his grandmother from the men in the taxi.

Ms Turner said: “He accepts that if he got clean the actions that should have been taken to protect his grandma would be to shut the door and call the police. He accepts it is entirely inappropriate and shouldn’t have happened.”

Sentencing Lloyd to two years in prison, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC said: “I give you credit for your guilty plea and the efforts you have made in prison to clean yourself up. You have taken serious steps to address your drug addiction.

“The offences are more than inappropriate. When people start carrying knives and machetes on the streets, they can fall into the wrong hands and people can get killed or seriously injured.

“It is inexcusable. She has four children, imagine how she must have felt you going around there in that state.

“I understand that there is some background to the taxi incident but if you arm yourself with a knife, violence can ensue.

“I take a very poor view on people carrying machetes on the streets.”

Lloyd, of Tollesby Lane, Marton-on-Cleveland, pleaded guilty to possession of a blade, two counts of criminal damage, public disorder, possession of an offensive weapon, assault on an emergency worker, resisting a constable and possession of cannabis.