A MAN who went "completely out of control", terrifying members of his family after a break-up with his girlfriend, was jailed for 18 months.

Andrew Paul Westlake, 24, came home "extremely drunk and upset", at 6pm on February 9.

Durham Crown Court heard that after speaking to his girlfriend on the phone, he left with cans of drink, making threats as to what he was going to do.

Stephen Duffield, prosecuting, told the court, that Westlake returned at 11pm and initially his mother's partner would not let him in, due to his condition.

But his mother relented and, once inside, Westlake began shouting and swearing at her partner, slapping him across the face.

Westlake's mother tried to calm the situation, but he pushed her onto a seat, before there was a further confrontation in the kitchen.

Mr Duffield said the 13-year-old son of the mother's partner, one of three children in bedrooms upstairs, was so fearful of what was happening that he climbed out of an upstairs window and rang for the police.

Officers arrived and found Westlake lying on the kitchen floor having stabbed himself twice in the stomach.

Michael Hodson, for Westlake, told the court the injuries to the abdomen proved "minor" and quickly healed.

He said Westlake was immediately "full of remorse" and felt "extremely badly" over what he had done, but he has since reconciled with his partner.

Jailing him, Judge Christopher Prince told Westlake: "This was a quite terrifying incident for those involved, not least due to your size.

"You have a history of abuse of alcohol and in this case you were completely out of control."

Westlake, of South View, Annfield Plain, admitted a charge of causing an affray.