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A homeless Sutton man who brandished half a pair of scissors and a steak knife when he threatened to stab a paramedic in his Adam's apple and a police officer in his eye has been jailed.

An ambulance was called to McDonald's in Sutton, where Paul Stafford was unconscious in the car park, at 1am, on October 5, said prosecutor Sarah Holland.

Stafford produced a glass tea light lantern and said 'Go away or I'll glass you,'' before threatening to hang himself.

He then pulled out the scissor blade and said: "Get back or I'll stab you in the Adam's apple."

He fled and hid in a garden on York Street, holding the improvised blade to his throat and threatening to stab himself. He was taken to QMC because it was suspected he had taken an overdose.

Stafford, aged 48, was released on bail and went to his parents' home in Forest Town the next day, where he became irate when they refused to give him money.

Police arrived at 3.45pm to find him on the drive with a steak knife in his hand. His parents were told to go inside while officers tried to persuade him to drop the knife.

He warned them he would take his own life and threatened to stab an officer in his eye.

On August 17 Stafford entered a homeless refuge in Sutton and helped himself to five slices of cake. When he was asked to leave some for others he became aggressive and threw a rock at a member of staff's car.

Mansfield Magistrates Court heard he has 30 previous convictions for 65 offences, including two for possessing knives.

Abbie Edwards, mitigating, said he was 'street homeless, hungry and in a desperate state' at the time and carried the scissors because he’d been robbed and assaulted in the past.

“His only intention was to harm himself,” she said. “He didn't want anyone standing in the way.”

He couldn’t recall the steak knife incident because he had taken a drug he’d never tried before. He has since detoxed from heroin and cocaine.

Stafford admitted threatening behaviour, possessing offensive weapons, and bail offences, on October 14.

On Thursday, he was jailed for 12 months and ordered to pay £150 compensation, a £154 surcharge and £85 costs.

‘Get back or I'll stab you in the Adam's apple’: Sutton man jailed for wielding scissor blade and stake knife