by Keith Hunt

A suicidal man who tried to get himself killed by armed police by pretending part of a walking frame was a gun has been spared jail.

Paul Jarvis was told he was being given a chance to show he could sustain his early progress in moving away from the drink and drugs that had caused his mental problems.

A judge said he had also taken into account that the 32-year-old dock worker had spent almost eight months in prison on remand.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Jarvis made various attempts to commit suicide before ripping apart his grandfather John Smith’s walking aid to make it appear to officers that a rifle was being pointed at them.

The “siege” at Mr Smith’s home in Queen’s Road, Minster, Sheppey, on January 29 lasted more than three hours.

Alex Wilson, prosecuting, said it was a suspected hostage situation with the grandfather and Jarvis’s mother Jackie Cockell in the house.

Jarvis, he said, was in a volatile mood. He tried to kill himself by cutting his wrists and hanging himself from the rafters of a shed.

He made threats to police officers, saying he had a knife. “He thought if police believed he had a gun, they would shoot him,” said Mr Wilson.

He broke a tube from the walking frame and held it under his arm to make it look like a shotgun.

He declared he had “had enough”, Mr Wilson said the incident started just after 3am and ended peacefully 6.20am.

Jarvis was taken to hospital to be treated for the self-harming.

Jarvis, of Priory Close, Faversham, admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years with supervision.

Judge Jeremy Carey said police officers had the same emotions and fears as other people in such situations.

“It is perfectly obvious you caused one seasoned officer to be very frightened indeed,” he told Jarvis, who has previous convictions for violence.

The judge said of early signs Jarvis was making changes in his life: “Anyone hearing this case should not run away with the idea that some brave new dawn has emerged.

“Your life by your own choices has resulted in the use of drugs and drink to excess,” he said.

“There will be difficult periods. Make sure you keep on the right side of the line.”