A MAN who threatened another man with a knife on Christmas day has been sent to prison.

Gary James Benson, 22, of Haughton Road, Darlington, yesterday pleaded guilty at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court to carrying an offensive weapon and causing affray.

The court heard how Benson had been accused by the other man of stealing a laptop computer from him.

Ciaran Grogan, prosecuting, said although there was no suggestion Benson had committed the theft, the accusation caused animosity between the two men.

Things came to a head on Christmas Day when Benson went round to the man's house in Shelley Road with a group of friends.

Some of the man's relatives confronted Benson and he produced a knife and threatened to kill the other man.

At one point, Benson slashed at a jacket that was being held out by one of the man's relatives.

Michael Clarke, mitigating, said his client only produced the knife because members of the other man's family had been threatening him and had been round to his mother's house.

Mr Clarke said: "He went to confront them to try and take the trouble away from his mother's door.

"He armed himself with the knife not to cause injury but to protect himself from a number of people."

Chairman of the bench Eileen Anderson sentenced Benson to seven weeks imprisonment for both offences, to be served concurrently.