A sloshed Ramsgate man armed himself with a crossbow when he went out looking for more vodka... and came close to being shot by police!

But Markus Dowlett was so doped up on cocaine and booze he couldn’t find his way back to the flat!

He ended up trying to get into the flat of two total strangers where terrified mum-of-two Lucy Day and Stewart Harris were looking after their one-year-old child.

They alerted police when the weapon was spotted in his hand and armed police officers surrounded him.

Police shouted: “Armed police. Show your hands!”

But Dowlett, now of Gwyn Road, Ramsgate, picked up the crossbow and began trying to provoke a reaction from police – but four seconds later dropped the weapon.

Judge Heather Norton told him: “You seemed quite oblivious as to who they were. You came very close to being shot!”

Prosecutor Jim Harvey told Canterbury Crown Court that on April 18 the couple heard someone downstairs outside their flat in Margate.

“Whoever it was was behaving oddly. They could hear shouting and eventually Mr Harris opened his door.

"He saw a man sitting at the bottom of the steps who appeared to be shouting into a mobile phone.

“He had dried blood on his lips. He then made his way up the stairs.

“It was then that Mr Harris saw that he was carrying a black crossbow.

"He realised the man was either intoxicated or under the influence of something else, “ he added.

The prosecutor said Ms Day shouted she could see Dowlett loading the weapon with a gold and silver bolt.

“He appeared to be smiling and Mr Harris was four steps away from his front door when the crossbow was then being pointed towards him.

“He was extremely scared and immediately closed the door and called the police.

"Dowlett then started to kick the door and shouted: ‘Let me in’. He then said he was sorry", he added.

Dowlett then walked out of the building and was seen to fire the bolt towards a building... but not before lying on the ground shouting: “I love you” while undoing his trousers!

He later told police he had been taking a mixture of cannabis, cocaine and vodka and he went for some more booze – but then thought he had returned to his own flat!

Rebecca Nieto, defending, said police had been given the go-ahead to use their weapons but “he was so intoxicated he wasn’t aware what was happening.”

She said that the 22-year-old had been born with an alcohol problem because his mother was an alcoholic.

Ms Nieto added that when Dowlett drank vodka it made him behave aggressively.

Dowlett, who admitted affray and possessing an offensive weapon, was given a 12-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to undergo nine months of treatment for his alcoholism and told he couldn’t leave his home between 6pm and 6am for six months.

Judge Norton told him: “You were addicted to alcohol from before you were born and alcohol has continued to be a problem throughout your life.

"But you have got to stop drinking - and stop completely!”