A man threatened his estranged cousin with a farrier knife after accusing her family of stealing his father's £400,000 inheritance.
Lex Littlewood, 55, entered the home of Jane James in Ebbw Vale on April 4 and began ranting, saying he was going to kill her after her mother had "robbed" his father of a significant sum of money. He was removed from the house by family members but said: "I am going to come back and kill you."
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard Ms James had not seen Littlewood in 15 years and was perplexed after he stormed into her house without warning.
Prosecutor Jenny Yeo said the defendant asked to speak with the victim alone but when she refused he began shouting about £400,000 and a farm before producing the farrier knife. Ms James was frightened and described Littlewood as "angry and threatening".
Police were called and arrested the defendant and recovered the knife later that day after he had been the victim of an assault himself.
Littlewood, of Rhyd Terrace, Tredegar, later pleaded guilty to affray.
In mitigation defence barrister Jeffrey Jones said: "He has a deceased sister and was greatly worked up by what had happened in the family and it got on top of him. The weapon itself is not a conventional knife and was never seen close to the body of his cousin."
He also told the court the defendant had been remanded in custody since his arrest.
Sentencing, Judge Niclas Parry said he accepted Littlewood had acted out of character having experienced "difficult family circumstances" and "emotions were running high".
He was sentenced to four months imprisonment suspended for 12 months.
