A JUDGE has condemned a man who threatened to behead a police officer, citing the Westminster attacks as a timely example of the dangers officers face to protect their public.

Anthony Michael Grogan was yesterday sentenced to 21 months in prison for a “deeply frightening” incident during which he wielded a knife at members of Cumbria Constabulary. The 25-year-old had admitted charges of affray, criminal damage to a set of handcuffs, and a racially aggravated harassment charge over abusive comments he made to one PC.

Grogan became embroiled in a two-hour stand-off with the police at his home in Thornbarrow Road, Windermere, on February 8. Officers attended just before 6am to serve on him a community penalty breach warrant.

But prosecutor Paul Cummings said that had sparked a furious reaction from Grogan, who began swearing at officers and making threats of violence towards them. Refusing them entry, he brandished a knife from inside the property.

Mr Cummings said: “He held the knife to his throat and threatened to kill himself.”

Grogan then threw an ornament and a photo frame at the officers from his window, lunged at them with the knife and uttered to one “that he would, effectively, chop his head off”.

A siege lasting 120 minutes only ended when a negotiator and a solicitor arrived at the scene, prompting Grogan to give himself up. But he then damaged a pair of handcuffs following his arrest, and later racially abused a PC who hailed from South America.

Grogan was said to have 89 offences on his criminal record, and had behaved violently towards police in the past. In December 2015, he spat at two officers and grabbed a custody sergeant, placing them in a headlock.

Kim Whittlestone, defending, spoke of Grogan's raft of personal problems and a perception he was “picked on” by police. He was seeking to address his issues in custody, she said, and move away from Cumbria when released.

Miss Whittlestone added: “The defendant apologises unreservedly for his conduct.”

But sentencing Grogan at Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, Judge Peter Davies said it was a “protracted, deeply anxious, deeply frightening incident”.

Judge Davies told him: “You have perhaps seen or heard on the news this week there are police officers willing to put their lives on the line for other people, including you.

"One man died on Wednesday. They are not just bad. They actually have an awful lot of good to do for us, and where would you be without them, Mr Grogan? Just think about that.”

After the sentencing, superintendent Rob O’Connor, of Cumbria Constabulary, said: “People like Grogan should not believe it is okay to threaten my officers without facing consequences for their action. He can reflect on that during his prison sentence.

“Police officers do not go to work each day to be threatened by the likes of Grogan. They go to work to protect others, and increasingly are having to protect themselves.

“Grogan should be ashamed of his actions, and his sentence should send a strong message that threatening police officers with acts of violence will not be tolerated by the courts and wider society.”