A DISTRAUGHT Weston man armed himself with a knife and screwdriver to hunt the person who he thought had stolen his beloved pet, a court heard.

Christian Phillips, of Baker Street, threatened the neighbours and mother of Alan Holmes after he discovered his dog had been taken from outside Tesco while he was shopping.

The 42-year-old had asked Mr Holmes to ‘keep an eye’ on his pet as he bought dog food on August 19.

The court was told he reported the incident to the police but hours later he took it upon himself to find Mr Holmes and save his dog.

Brandishing a knife and screwdriver, Phillips, who had drank four cans of alcohol, went to the Bournville estate where he believed Mr Holmes lived but went to the wrong address.

Prosecutor Kelly Marshall said he shouted abusive words towards the window of Marie Luck and her partner, and she then heard a loud bang.

She saw Phillips, who suffers from medical and drugs issues, carrying the weapons and her partner eventually convinced him that Mr Holmes lived in the next door property.

He headed towards that address and Mrs Luck then heard screaming coming from the property.

She found Phillips wielding the knife at Mr Holmes’ mother in a communal stairwell and said he was going to stab her.

They managed to persuade Phillips that Mr Holmes was not there and he then ran down Chaucer Road. Police arrested him a short time later.

David Bird, defending, said the incident was completely ‘out of character’ and Phillips had armed himself for protection.

He said: “If you go down to the Bournville and say ‘you have nicked my dog, give me it back please’, a response is a punch in the nose or something. He knows the person, who in his view, has stolen his dog and he knows the kind of response he’s going to get and since this incident he has been beaten up for telling the police what has happened to him.”

Mr Bird said Phillips was told his dog was going to be sold for �50 to fund a drug addiction, but after the police were called out the dog was ‘mysteriously’ returned a couple of days later.

Phillips pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possessing an offensive weapon, possessing a blade in a public place and using threatening words or behaviour.

Magistrates sitting at North Somerset Courthouse on Monday sentenced him to six weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and a 12 month supervision requirement.