A 48-YEAR-OLD man avoided prison for threatening to kill his wife and children because he had already spent 168 days in custody.

Geoffrey Hoare, of Corbridge Crescent, Darlington, appeared at Teesside Crown Court yesterday charged with threatening to kill his wife on December 12 after he had been drinking.

The court heard he returned home, where his wife was in the kitchen, and threatened her and her children.

John Gillette, prosecuting, said Hoare grabbed a knife and told her: "I will kill you - and the lot of you."

He then went upstairs and returned with lighter fluid.

When police arrived, he was in the garden, where he was hitting himself with a pair of hammers. Police used CS gas to subdue him.

Hoare, who admitted the crime, told police he was suffering from depression.

He was given a community order with 18 months supervision, and the judge told him it was only the fact he had already been in custody that meant he avoided jail.