A HAMPSHIRE man who brought a city centre to a standstill by "terrorising" shop workers and customers with a kitchen knife because he was upset about his child being taken into care has been jailed for 27 months.

Tobias Maylott was sentenced for his actions which led to a siege at the Virgin Media store in Portsmouth, Hampshire, on October 31 last year, causing part of the city centre to be cordoned off for more than three hours.

The 21-year-old, of no fixed address, was jailed for affray, making threats with a knife and common assault as well as breaching a suspended sentence for a previous siege situation at a residential property.

Martyn Booth, prosecuting, told Portsmouth Crown Court how armed police were sent into the Virgin Media store after Maylott began waving the 7in (17cm) bread knife around in a "fast, manically and aggressive manner".

The defendant was spotted outside the store by shop worker Lewis Coles looking "agitated" and concealing the knife.

When he entered the store, Maylott was confronted by customer Rhys Lewis at whom the defendant threw a bottle of alcohol hand wash, causing a cut above his eye.

Mr Lewis was then able to back out of the store and the rest of the occupants, including his wife, had managed to leave apart from Mr Coles who had hidden in a staff toilet.

Mr Booth said that as a result of the incident, Mr Lewis "has suffered increased anxiety, as has his wife".

Maylott, a painter and decorator, then went into the staff area of the shop where Mr Coles had hidden and locked himself in the toilet, holding the door shut with his hands and feet as the defendant shook the door.

Mr Cole was rescued when armed police entered the premises about 20 minutes later and police negotiators began the process of persuading Maylott to leave his hiding place in the loft which took more than three hours in total.

Mr Booth said that during the incident Maylott had shouted at staff demands for him to give his child back.

He explained that Maylott told police that he had become paranoid after taking cannabis that day which had made him upset about his child who had recently been taken into care.

Robert Forrest, defending, said: "He went out not wanting to hurt anyone but ended up causing so much terror."

He added that the defendant's mother had written to the court saying her son "was a bomb waiting to go off".

Judge Roger Hetherington said the defendant had a "history of substance misuse, was emotionally unstable and had a dis-social personality disorder".

He said: "The aggravating features of this incident are the fact that several people were threatened with a knife, that this occurred in the middle of a busy Saturday in the middle of the city, the protracted period of time and the large number of resources need to be deployed to end the incident."