POLICE were forced to pull a Taser on an "aggressive" man who had threatened to slit a woman's throat.

Matthew Scriven dropped to his knees when he was "red dotted" by a police officer, Cardiff Crown Court heard on Monday.

The 27-year-old had earlier been seen brandishing a screwdriver and a "very large" knife when he was making the threats to the woman, who was with her son.

The court heard Scriven was "stripped to his waist" and "unsteady" when he approached the family, near his home address in Caerphilly, on the evening of August 12.

"He came out with a screwdriver, with a five-inch head," Jeffrey Jones, prosecuting, told the court, adding the defendant was "verbally aggressive" and told the woman he would "slit your throat".

Later, Scriven came back with "a very large bladed knife" of around seven or eight inches, Mr Jones said.

The target of his threats was "frightened" and retreated indoors, then as Scriven entered her back garden, she phoned the police.

Officers arrived and found the defendant "acting aggressively".

Noting the reports of a weapon, one officer warned Scriven he was carrying a Taser, and the defendant became calmer.

Ed Mitchard, defending, said Scriven had not brandished the knife in front of the police, or threatened them with it.

He suggested Scriven had been involved in a previous dispute with the victim and "took it upon himself to arm himself... and show them in his own words, that he was not afraid of them".

His client had a "problematic use of alcohol", Mr Mitchard said, adding Scriven was "keen to resume his position in his family... and to not make these mistakes again".

Scriven, whose address was given as Buxton Court, Lansbury Park, admitted at a previous court appearance one charge of possessing a knife in public, and one charge of affray.

Passing sentence, Judge Niclas Parry condemned knife crime and said the courts must take such matters seriously.

"There are too many cases involving too many people in public places carrying knives," he said. "It has become an epidemic."

The judge said Scriven was "out of control of your senses through drink" and, although nobody was injured by the weapons, "the potential for harm is obvious". 

"You made serious threats with the knife," the judge told him. "People were clearly terrified and there were children present."

He added: "Mercifully nobody was hurt."

Noting the defendant's guilty pleas, the judge sentenced Scriven to a total of 12 months in prison.