A MAN suffering from paranoid delusions that he was being pursued after taking drugs tried to break into a country house near a Kent city and was confronted by the householder with a shotgun.

But so great was Jason Weir's fear that he refused to leave the premises and was eventually shut in the cellar until the police came. He had been taking ecstasy and amphetamine at a rave.

Weir, 22, of Sturdee Avenue, Gillingham, appeared for sentence at Canterbury Crown Court having been committed by Canterbury magistrates.

He was jailed for 18 months having admitted the burglary at Broxhall House, just outside Canterbury, in April.

Alistair Walker, prosecuting, said Charles McDonald was woken and saw his doors had been smashed and Weir outside. When challenged, Weir said: "I am desperate."

Mr McDonald got a shotgun to deter Weir but then found he had gone down to the cellar, so he shut him in.

Danny Moore, defending, said Weir had been a promising student until he began taking drugs at university and failed to finish his philosophy degree course.

He suffered a psychotic episode in April 2005 and developed a paranoid psychotic disorder after taking cannabis and cocaine. Weir had since ceased taking drugs.

Sentencing Weir, Judge Adele Williams said the case "illustrates the evils of drug use".