A man who admitted he had drunk a large amount of vodka and taken cocaine threatened members of his family with a knife.

Zohaib Khan, 25, also threatened to destroy property at one of the family homes in Nelson on September 11.

Khan and other members of the family had got into dispute over the delivery of an Amazon parcel, and Khan, having consumed the alcohol and drugs, armed himself with a knife and forced his way into the house.

He made threats and said he would ‘get men round to smash up the house’.

It was accepted by the prosecution that he only brandished the knife while outside the house and that he made threats to kill, though these were not prosecuted.

Around 10 people were in the house at the time, three of them women who saw the defendant and were subject to the threats.

There was also a child who briefly saw the defendant holding the knife though they were quickly ushered away.

Khan admitted he had drunk a large amount of vodka over two days, with cocaine on top of that.

Prosecuting, Peter Barr said this was a family dispute and there had been no requests by the family for a restraining order.

Mark Stuart, defending, said his client had already spent three-and-a-half months in prison on remand and had been making “fairly decent progress.”

He was engaging with drug and alcohol recovery services and was “as stable as he has been for a long time.”

He added: “He wholly accepts you cannot do that. It was a complete act of stupidity.”

Sentencing, Judge Andrew Jeffries said: “Your counsel said everything he could on your behalf but the reality us you are doing well now because you are away from drink and drugs.

“I am going to impose a sentence that is probably less than it ought to be so you can continue getting dry.

“I think in the long term that will be better as you are clearly feeling the benefits of being away from drink and drugs.”

Judge Jeffries sentenced Khan, of Holly Street, Nelson, to 13 months in prison.