A GWENT man has avoided jail after pointing an air pistol towards his ex-partner in a bout of drug-fuelled paranoia.

Ashley Jones, 55, of Nant y Garn, Risca was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Cardiff Crown Court having entered an early guilty plea to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

On March 2 last year, Jones, a lorry driver, had pulled up outside his ex-partner’s daughter’s house and “brandished” an unloaded air pistol through the car window.

The court heard that Jones held the belief that his partner had sent people to “follow him”, a “paranoid belief” that was fuelled by amphetamine abuse.

The incident had occurred while Jones was on bail for a similar offence he committed while working in the Leicester area.

Leicester Crown Court handed him a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, for possessing a bladed article with intent to cause fear or violence on January 16, 2015.

The defendant had threatened the driver of a vehicle with a knife, believing that they had been sent by his partner to follow him.

This charge, one of 14 previous convictions, was referenced by Judge Neil Bidder QC during his sentencing.

“You brandished a gun, which was an unloaded air pistol, towards your partner.

“That was extremely frightening for her,” he said.

“You had committed the offence on the back of another offence, that you committed when you brandished a knife at a wholly innocent person in a car.

“The reason for both these offences was mental illness. You believed completely, wholly and irrationally, that your partner had sent people to follow you and spy on you.

He added: “That was a fixed belief provoked by amphetamine abuse.”

Prior to the sentencing, Mark Battrick, prosecuting, outlined the applications by the defendant’s ex-partner for a restraining order, which was granted indefinitely, and for the forfeiture and destruction of the firearm, which was also granted.

Judge Bidder then sentenced Jones and instructed both the defendant and Caroline Rees, defending, that he needed to abide by strict drug rehabilitation requirements and monthly checks or else risk serious mental illness.

He said: “It is vital that this man does not take amphetamines ever again. If he does he risks following a strong family history of mental illness.

“I am satisfied that the defendant has a propensity to misuse drug.”

Speaking to Jones he said: “You are susceptible, if you abuse drugs, to develop paranoid beliefs.

“It is essential that you never take these drugs in the future. If you do, you are likely to develop schizophrenia.”