A MAN who rang the police from a phone box to tell them he was going to kill someone was sentenced to one year in prison when he appeared at North Somerset Courthouse.

Jason Barton, aged 43, was found with two kitchen knives in his possession on Alexandra Parade, Weston, on October 10.

He had bought the blades, which were more than 18cm long including the handle, from Poundland.

Barton told police he had thoughts in his head about harming others or killing them - but while operators kept him talking on the phone, an officer went to arrest him.

Barton, from Taunton, stole knives from Poundland in Southampton on October 30, when he did the same thing, calling the police from a phone box.

He has a previous conviction for the same offence, possessing a knife in a public place, in Taunton in September 2011, when he also rang the police.

He was given a conditional discharge for that offence.

The court heard how Barton used to throw rocks through shop windows before ringing the police to confess his crime, which had escalated to possession of knives. He also has a conviction for assault.

In passing sentence, magistrates said: “We are very, very concerned. You have a long history of knife offences and we strongly suspect you have been on public transport with these knives. We consider that the circumstances are so serious that you must go to prison.”

Barton was sentenced to six months in prison for the incident in Weston and another six months for the incident in Southampton to be served consecutively, with a further two months for committing an offence while on a conditional discharge, to be served concurrently, totalling one year behind bars.