A Willaston man has been put on probation for 18 months after threatening to stab social workers.

Richard Alan Kewley, of Tynwald Road, pleaded guilty in court to two offences of conduct causing fear of violence and one of conduct amounting to harassment.

Kewley was sentenced to an 18 month probation order for each of the three offences, to run concurrently.

The 56-year-old had been on remand for six days and Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes told him that if he was back before the court for any breaches of the order, custody would be inevitable.

Mrs Hughes said: ’You have had a taste of custody - you know what it would feel like.’

The court heard that Kewley had called Markwell House - where two women staff members who had dealt with him were based - at around 3am on November 27.

He left answerphone messages saying that he would go there and ’stab them’, and said that he knew where one of the women lived.

Between February 1 and March 14 Kewley also made threats to a third social care worker.

Defending Kewley in court his advocate, Stephen Wood, said that legal aid funding for a psychiatric report had unfortunately not been approved.

Mr Wood said: ’It is regrettable there is no pyschiatric report. There are issues with the way Mr Kewley perceives events. He needs to learn he can’t respond in such a way. He seems to have had the coins removed from his eyes in the custodial environment. It has been extremely difficult for him. There have been two hospital visits in six days.

’He needed to realise the impact of his behaviour and start to get a grip. Probation can build on that and help him better deal with his failings and the impact of the words he uses on answering machines. There seems to have been a period when he got considerably worse which coincided with his late mother’s birthday. Bereavement counselling has been recommended.’

All three woman had declined applying for a restraining order.