Man living in Oadby woods jailed for 'Raoul Moat' threats and claims he would kill police

A man who threatened to kill police – demanding "do you think Raoul Moat is bad?" – has been jailed.

Armed police surrounded woods in Oadby after Sean Jeffrey made 999 calls threatening to shoot officers with an AK47 assault rifle.

Leicester Crown Court was told Jeffrey was living in a makeshift den in the woods, near Windrush Drive.

The 40-year-old made seven emergency service calls within two-and-a-half hours, three of which included threats to randomly shoot and kill two police officers.

In a call played in court, Jeffrey made reference to infamous killer Raoul Moat, who went on the run in north east England after killing his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend and shooting her and a policeman, before killing himself, in 2010.

In one of the calls, he said: "Do you think Raoul Moat is bad?"

He had earlier said: "I'm looking for your officers tonight and I'm gonna kill them. I'm gonna put them in their grave. I'm gonna kill two police officers."

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said the calls began at 5.15pm on May 28. Jeffrey initially threatened to kill himself.

Mr Murphy said: "Police cordoned off a dense wooded area near Windrush Drive.

"A number of armed officers were deployed, along with the police helicopter."

The calls continued until 7.40pm, when he told an emergency call handler he had slashed his arm and blood was "spurting" out.

At 8.05pm, he was seen walking along Windrush Drive with a heavily blood-stained arm.

He was arrested and taken to hospital.

Police located his den and found razors, along with his mobile phone, but no gun.

In interview, he said he had an argument with a friend who told him: "Why don't you just kill yourself?"

He had then taken beer to his den and had no memory of the first six calls.

He admitted two counts of making threats to kill and was jailed for 27 months.

Judge Michael Pert QC said: "You made threats, possibly with the intention of attracting armed police officers who might shoot you, though that's unclear.

"Threatening that you have a firearm and intend killing officers is so serious I can't deal with it in any other way than custody."

Linda Jerman, mitigating, said: "He's been suffering from mental health problems for a long time.

"The first call to the police was a cry for help.

"He said he was homeless and was going to kill himself. Because there wasn't a response from the police, anger took over while he was in drink.

"He's asked for help in the past and feels hospital staff and police haven't believed him."

She said Jeffrey was estranged from his family at the time. He went from sleeping in a park to living in the woods.

Miss Jerman said: "He was in a desperate situation and ended up cutting his arm and losing some blood.

"He's very sorry. He realises the person on the phone would have been scared for anyone who attended the scene.

"He's on medication and detoxified from alcohol while on remand in custody. He's found the prison regime helpful.

"He's made amends with his family."