A BT engineer sitting in his van was confronted by a hooded cyclist who reached for a machete in the back of his shorts.

Luke Laidlaw, 27, of Kingsley Road, Garden City, Deeside, admitted having the machete and was jailed for 15 months.

Judge Rhys Rowlands told Mold Crown Court Laidlaw had cycled towards the BT man in Welsh Road, Garden City, and stared at him.

He rode off but returned and started to take out the machete.

Judge Rowlands said: “The courts are repeatedly having to make the point that taking knives and something similar is something that is going to cause a great deal of concern.”

He said it was a “fearsome” weapon and added Laidlaw was no stranger to the courts.

Prosecutor Nicholas Walker said the BT engineer began filming Laidlaw on a mobile phone and Laidlaw rode away.

When he hurled the machete into a garden, it landed at a woman’s feet.

Police armed with Tasers ordered Laidlaw to come down after he climbed on a porch in Welsh Road.

Defence barrister Mark Connor said Laidlaw had worked as a window cleaner.

He had been depressed and of no fixed address when he committed the offence.