A MAN threatened his mother with a large knife after turning up drunk at the family home, a court heard.Ricky Marriner, 25, brandished the machete-style knife, measuring 6-8in, during a row with Susan Marriner at the house in Northgate, Lowestoft.

A MAN threatened his mother with a large knife after turning up drunk at the family home, a court heard.

Ricky Marriner, 25, brandished the machete-style knife, measuring 6-8in, during a row with Susan Marriner at the house in Northgate, Lowestoft.

Mitzy Bond, prosecuting at Lowestoft Magistrates' Court, said: 'He came into the house and was drunk and argumentative. She [his mother] told him to go to bed, but he continued to make threats and brandished a large knife, and held it up to enforce the threat.'

Marriner, who lived at the house, was arrested after police were called at just before 10.30pm on April 12.

He pleaded guilty to affray at an earlier hearing and appeared in court on Tuesday for sentencing.

He was given a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to take part in a six-month alcohol treatment programme.

Richard Mann, for Marriner, said: 'He is a very popular young man and gets on well with people. The problem is when he starts drinking. He has a chemical reaction that changes him.

'He says he is not an alcoholic, but does have a problem with drink.'