A man who attacked an ice cream van and threatened its owner with a Samurai sword in front of “screaming” children has been jailed.

Jamie Tickle was drunk and high on cocaine when he climbed into the van and waved the sword as a woman was serving three children on 1 July. He then hid by bins but was arrested shortly after the attack in Merseyside.

Tickle was jailed for two years and eight months at Liverpool Crown Court for affray and possession of a weapon.

Judge Stephen Everett said the attack “came out of the blue and we may never get to the bottom of why he did what he did”. He said although no-one was injured, the attack caused “psychological devastation”.

The judge also said he was unsure whether Tickle, 32, fully understood the seriousness of what he had done.
The court had earlier heard that Nuntaporn Watkinson had been working at The Rides in Haydock when Tickle, of Central Drive in the town, approached her carrying a three-foot (90cm) long sword. Mrs Watkinson, who has returned to work since the attack on her 34th birthday, said that while she was “terrified” of being killed, her “biggest fear was for the three children I’d been serving”. “I can hear the children screaming and crying,” she added.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said: “This was a truly awful incident that took place on a busy suburban street in broad daylight, in full view of a number of children.”