A man has been jailed for a violent outburst during which he threatened two people with a knife in the space of half-an-hour.

Lee Presten, 35, approached the victim, a man in his fifties, in Edinburgh Drive, St Neots, at about 8.45am on June 8 asking for directions.

When the man didn’t know the answer Presten became agitated, swearing at him and raising his fist.

To defend himself the man struck Presten, who retaliated by pulling out a knife and pointing it towards him.

As the man fled to his nearby home Presten followed, repeatedly warning he was “going to do him”, before running off after being told police had been called.

Half an hour later he visited a house in Dukes Road and forced his way inside when a woman in her twenties answered the door.

He ran upstairs to a bedroom and confronted a man in his forties, who he knew previously, grabbing him by the throat and putting him against a wall.

Presten punched and kicked the man before again pulling out a knife and threatening him.

He was disarmed by the man and woman, who called police with officers arriving and arresting Presten within minutes.

Presten, of Barnes Close, St Neots, was jailed for two years at Peterborough Crown Court on July 9 after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing a bladed article in a public place and two counts of affray.

Detective Sergeant Alex Dopadlik, who investigated, said: “During half an hour Presten left two men, one of which he knew, fearing for their lives. There is no excuse for carrying offensive weapons in public and we will continue to put those who do before the courts.”