An Aberystwyth man has been jailed for putting two glass mushrooms in a sock with the intention of using it as a weapon.

Lee Southan, 40, of 3 Bridge Street, appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and to possession of a bladed article in a public place.

The court heard that the incident took place at around 9pm on 8 August on Bridge Street when members of the public reported seeing a topless man shouting and waving a cosh. The man was later identified as Southan.

The cosh was made by Southan putting two glass ornament mushrooms in a sock, the court was told.

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said Southan was then seen entering a property while a second man was seen kicking a front door.

Southan later appeared again carrying a kitchen knife which he swung at the other man shouting he was going to stab him.

The man fled and Southan returned into his flat to emerge carrying a rucksack and ran off down Princess Street.

Police were informed and began searching for Southan. When officers caught up with him, Southan produced a fire extinguisher from his bag and created a smokescreen to try and obscure their view as he ran away.

He was chased and caught.

Defending, Ian Ibrahim, said the only reason the defendant was in the dock was because somebody had tried to break down his front door and attack him and Southan had ‘acted a bit foolishly’ trying to fight back instead of calling the police.

The court heard that Southan had 20 previous convictions for 33 offences including possession of a knife in a public place in 2014 and robbery and possession of an offensive weapon in 2016.

The latter offence saw Southan robbing a Premier store in Aberystwyth, an offence for which he was sentenced to four years in prison.

In April 2025 the defendant was given a suspended prison sentence for possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

Recorder Ben Blakemore said the "ugly incident" had been played out on a summer evening in a seaside town when there were members of the public around, adding that Southan acted ‘foolishly’ but in his view it was more than that.

He added that Southan escalated the ongoing situation by introducing a knife, and said had the male at the door "stood up" to Southan "it could have turned out very, very differently".

The recorder told the defendant he had then made off, discharging a fire extinguisher as he tried to escape, "though quite what you were trying to achieve with that I do not know".

Southan was sentenced to 15 months in prison. The recorder activated three months of the previously imposed 12-month cannabis sentence to run consecutively, making an overall sentence of 18 months.

He will serve just 40 per cent of the sentence before being released on licence.