A man with mental health problems armed himself with a kitchen knife after a confrontation with a vagrant in the street.

George Hinton, formerly of Furlong Close, Buckfastleigh, was seen with the knife by a passing motorist who was so alarmed she called the police, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Hinton, aged 35, was threatened with a taser and dropped the weapon. He told the officers he had armed himself ’to threaten the weirdo’.

He was staying with friends in Buckfastleigh when he was arrested last month and remained in custody until he was freed on a suspended sentence.

Hinton, admitted possessing a knife in a public place and was jailed for five months, suspended for two years and ordered to do 100 hours unpaid community work and 20 days rehabilitation activities.

He was liable to an automatic six month sentence because it was his second knife offence, but Judge Erik Salomonsen decided not to implement it immediately.

He told him:"I accept you did not threaten anyone with the knife but the circumstances were dangerous because you were drunk and there was a real possibility the knife could have been used.

"Having regard in particular to your mental health issues, and the benefit you will receive from the assistance of the probation service, it is not in the public interest to send you back to prison.

"I also bear in mind you have already served the equivalent of a two month sentence in custody and you already have support from probation in Wales."

Miss Katie Churcher, prosecuting, said a woman driving through Buckfastleigh on the night of April 14 saw Hinton arguing with a homeless man and then going to a nearby bungalow and fetching a knife.

Police arrived shortly afterwards and although there was no sign of the homeless man, Hinton was still in the street. He dropped the knife when police produced a taser. He told them he had it to threaten the homeless man, who he described as ’the weirdo’.

He later admitted he had been drinking in an area near Buckfast Abbey before the incident.

Mr Martin Salloway, defending, said Hinton has a history of mental problems, including four spells of in patient treatment, and may have been paranoid at the time.

His version of events is that he was cutting up potatoes when he heard sounds outside which he thought were radios and went out to investigate, with the knife still in his hand.

He said Hinton was in Devon for a short time to reflect on his life and has decided since his arrest to return to his roots in West Wales, where he has been working well with the probation service.

A probation report said he could do unpaid community work at an art gallery in Wales despite being on employment support allowance and currently unemployed.