Train passengers were left terrified when a man “laughed demonically” then brandished a knife and threatened to kill his former neighbour.
Leighton Price looked angrily up and down the carriage, saw the man on the opposite railway platform, and gestured with his finger across his throat.
Cardiff Crown Court heard he said: “I’m going to get him. I’m going to have him. I’m going to kill him.”
Byron Broadstock, prosecuting, said the incident happened on October 16 last year. Lauren Maxwell was travelling from Cardiff to Aberdare on the train, talking to a friend on the phone, when Price sat down next to her.
The court heard she became concerned as he was “rocking back and forth”, breathing heavily, and taking his coat on and off.
Mr Broadstock said the defendant became more angry as the train approached Taff's Well and he looked up and down the carriage as if he was looking for someone.
He told the court Price was looking out of the window while “laughing demonically” and continued to say: “I’m going to kill him.”
The train stopped at Treforest railway station and the defendant was seen to stick his middle finger up at a man on the platform and say: “I’m going to get you.”
Mr Broadstock said: “He reached down and pulled a knife out of his clothing.”
Other passengers saw the knife and described it as a medium-sized kitchen knife with a 6in blade.
This is what the law says about carrying knives:
Prosecutors said Price brandished the knife, then made a threatening gesture by crossing his finger across his throat in a “slashing” motion. He ran off down the carriage and into the toilet.
Mr Broadstock said the victim was Adam Draper, a former neighbour, who got off the train and was talking to a member of staff on the platform.
Police arrived and found the defendant in the toilet. He was searched and did not have anything on him but the knife was recovered from the toilet. He was arrested and interviewed at the police station where he gave “no comment” answers.
In a statement Ms Maxwell said: “The whole incident has left me feeling alarmed. I use the trains every day for work and socially. This incident has left me feeling I need to be more on guard.”
The court heard Price had nine previous offences on his record including assaulting police officers, battery, and criminal damage.
Price, 19, from Tudor Close in Merthyr Vale, admitted possessing a knife and threatening behaviour.
Lowri Wynn Morgan, defending, said he had learning disabilities and mental health problems.
She told the court at one stage her client thought using substances might help with his mental health but he now realises they exacerbate the situation and is determined to stop.
Judge Catherine Richards told the defendant by brandishing a knife in the confined space of a train he caused “considerable alarm and distress”.
She noted one passenger was “hysterical” by the time the police arrived, adding: “She had no way of knowing how that incident was going to end.”
Price was given a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months. The judge also imposed an 18-month community order requiring him to complete up to 30 days of rehabilitation.
She made an indefinite restraining order and an order for the knife to be destroyed. Price must pay a £149 victim surcharge.
