A MENTALLY ill man who brandished a knife at his wife and a Kent police officer has been remanded in custody for psychiatric reports.

Terence Waters originally faced a charge of attempting to murder PC Robin Brenchley.

The charge was later reduced to attempting to wound the officer and the prosecution accepted his guilty plea to affray.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that the 54-year-old caused terror at his home in The Street, Borden, near Sittingbourne, on August 14 last year.

Robin Johnson, prosecuting, said Waters had mental health problems and and it might be possible to resolve the matter without the need for a trial. "Our concerns are for the future," he said.

Waters, he said, had frightened his wife with the knife and when officers arrived, confronted PC Brenchley.

Adjourning sentence until March 31, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said all sentencing options remained open.