ARMED police were called in after a 23-year-old man barricaded himself into his ex-girlfriend’s house and threatened to use a loaded gun, a court was told.

The siege in Moat Crescent, Malvern, went on for six hours before officers were able to break in and arrest Jamie Cornes without a struggle, said Stephen Davies, prosecuting.

They found that Cornes, who had been warned to keep away from the property, had neither a shotgun nor cartridges. His girlfriend was present during the siege with their four-year-old child. Cornes, who admitted making a threats to kill and using obscene and abusive words, was jailed for 30 months at Worcester Crown Court. Mr Davies said that when police arrived on April 19, the lights were turned off. Cornes later claimed he did not realise that they were police. The defendant had 20 convictions for 43 offences, 11 of which involved violence.

Barry Newton, defending, said Cornes had issued stupid threats in a bid to get the police to withdraw. It was not until checks had been carried out that they realised he had no licence to carry weapons.

But Judge Christopher Plunkett said Cornes had created a risk to another person and a child. He had created a siege situation and such incidents in the past had sometimes ended in tragedy. Cornes had a horrific record for violence and the police had acted correctly in dealing with his threats.

The court was told that Cornes was already serving an 105-day sentence imposed by Worcester magistrates for damage, theft, handling stolen property and other offences.