A DRUG addict who took his dad hostage and threatened to do him serious harm if police entered the house has been jailed 20 months.

Preston Crown Court heard how earlier in the day Theo Wesley Rush had been to his grandmother’s house on August 7 to ask for money. When he arrived his mother told him to leave or she would call the police.

Prosecuting, Joe Boyd said that later the same day Rush turned up at his parents' home in Haslingden demanding to know what his mother had said to his father, Dean Rush.

Mr Boyd said: “He entered that home and began tearing wires out of the wall, the phone and internet and smashing their computer in the bath, while demanding to know what his mother had been telling his father about him. This was in relation to whether or not he had been taking drugs.

“He then threw a joystick at his father which hit his father on the head. Mrs Rush then ran outside and escaped jumping over a neighbour’s garden. She called the police from there and as his father tried to calm him down he produced a large kitchen knife which had been in the property and shouted that he would stab him.

“Eventually he calmed down and put the knife away and his father began to make them a cup of tea. Then the defendant heard the police sirens, grabbed the knife again and held it against his father’s neck as they sat down on the floor.

"He became increasingly wound up and when he realised the police were going to Taser him he tried to shut the door on the officers, whilst his father tried grabbing the knife. Then he began thrashing around with the knife in his hand, which led to his father’s injuries.”

Mr Boyd said CCTV of the incident showed Rush holding his father on one side of the door as police tried to smash their way in on the other side.

He said: “It’s at that time the defendant was trying to shut the door. He was trying to keep his father and it was at that stage his father’s injuries were sustained. His father had cuts to the arms and cuts to the head - a particularly deep cut which required medical treatment.

“The defendant had to be Tasered when police had managed to get down the door, he was waving a large knife around at the time police grabbed his hand to release the knife. As they did so the defendant was heard to say ‘Sorry dad. I thought we had more time’.

“On the police entering the house with the Taser the defendant had shouted ‘you Taser me and he’s f****d. Police heard something about the father saying ‘please, no’."

Rush, of Blackburn Road, Haslingden, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to wounding without intent and criminal damage.

Defending, Dudley Beel said Rush had stable accommodation to go to when he is released from prison and arrangements had been made by his parents for him to engage with the drug and alcohol misuse service Inspire as well. He said his client, who has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety, began misusing substances when he was at university and a close friend died, followed six weeks later by the suicide of another.

Mr Beel said his client has been self-medicating with amphetamine and Class A drugs. That was further exacerbated when he was arrested on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend Pauline Jackson, although no charges were ever filed and a coroner recorded an open verdict at her inquest last year.

Mr Beel said: “His father didn’t view this matter as one of intent. It was a panic-stricken, drug-addled, perhaps, lapse in judgement, which has caused him to do something incredibly dangerous for which he is fully remorseful.”

Addressing Judge Sara Dodd in court, Dean Rush said: “At no point did he actually attack me.”

Jailing Rush for as long as she could under the sentencing guidelines, Judge Dodd said: “You have no previous convictions but you do have a long history of substance abuse. There is a background of trauma from even school and more recently the death of your partner and the consequences of that for you generally.

“You were diagnosed with ADHD in 2013 and you remain impulsive and act without consideration of the consequences, though not to a disabling extent. You do not have post traumatic stress disorder, nor autism, although Dr Bacon concludes you do have some dissocial personality traits. The main issue for you Mr Rush is your continued addiction to drugs of all types and, in particular, Class A drugs. While you continue to hold positive attitudes to those drugs, you will never begin to put your life in a better place.”