A distraught Whitstable father tried to kill himself after his son was convicted of attempted murder.

Trevor Chambers, 47, began “grieving” over what happened to his 21-year-old son, who had stabbed a rival in a revenge attack.

But a judge heard that after surviving the suicide attempt, Chambers took out his anger on one of the prosecution witnesses.

He went into the Canterbury branch of the clothing shop New Look and began glaring at assistant Phoebe Marsh.

Then “through gritted teeth” he snarled: “You are a c***…I’m going to have you!” at the petrified girl.

Chambers, of Walmer Road, came close to joining son Jim - pictured left - inside prison after admitting threatening to take revenge.

Judge Heather Norton told him: “Witnesses should be able to come forward and give their evidence without fear of repercussions and this court will protect those witnesses.”

She said that Ms Marsh was left frightened by the outburst and feared being followed and attacked by Chambers.

In 2011, his son Jim was sent to prison at the same court following a knife attack on victim James Middleton.

At the attempted murder trial, the judge told Jim Chambers he regarded him as a danger because it had been a revenge attack.

He said: “Jim Chambers had intent to kill James Middleton, This was appalling, shocking and violent behaviour. It was serious criminal violence, serious knife crime."

Prosecutor Edmund Burge said Chambers senior had sat through each day of the trial and had watched Ms Marsh giving her evidence.

A month later he had gone to the High Street shop with his partner where Ms Marsh was working, left but returned alone and made the threat.

Simon Taylor, defending, said: “At the time he did this, he was grieving for his son who had been sent to prison and there followed a suicide attempt.

“This wasn’t a planned meeting with the witness. When he saw her he couldn’t control his emotions and saw red. It was a mistake and he regrets using that disgusting language.”

Chambers - who is about to become a father for the fourth time – was given a six-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Norton said he wasn’t going straight to prison because she accepted he hadn’t targeted Ms Marsh and there was no evidence he would have carried out the threat.