A FORMER soldier collapsed and sobbed in the dock as he was jailed for five years following an armed siege.

There was a loud thump as Thomas Davison, 43, fell sideways and lay sobbing on the floor as court staff went to his aid.

It was 20 minutes before the court could resume.

Earlier, Winchester Crown Court heard that the siege drama unfolded after Davison, according to his barrister, went "mad with grief" following the break-up of his marriage.

Richard Brown, prosecuting, said that after the couple had separated in February last year, Davison had moved to live in Scotland where he tried to kill himself.

The court heard that last June, Davison went to the house in Greenwoods, Whitchurch, where his wife, Amanda, the couple's three children, and her new partner Clive Turner were living.

Mr Brown said Davison was spotted outside wearing camouflage clothing and holding a firearm.

He threatened Mr Turner, who tried to grab the gun from him, and there was a struggle during which Mr Turner was hit on the head six or seven times with the gun and stabbed in the shoulder.

Mrs Davison came out of the house and her husband, who no longer had the gun or knife, grabbed her and pulled her inside, locking the door.

Mr Brown described how, inside, the frightened woman saw Davison produce another knife, an axe and a second firearm.

The drama ended after about two hours when Davison left the house and was arrested by the police. Officers later found the firearms were replicas.

David Medhurst, defending, said Davison had served as a reservist in Kosovo and had come home to find his marriage was effectively at an end. He said his client still loved his estranged wife but did not wish any harm to her and a divorce was in progress.

Davison, from Edinburgh, admitted charges of having an offensive weapon, two counts of having an imitation firearm, one of unlawful wounding and one of false imprisonment.

Passing sentence, Judge Keith Cutler told Davison he had turned to "desperate measures" to get his wife to reconsider her position and added that the siege had been a serious incident.

While reports indicated Davison had difficulty in coping with stress, the judge said: "It can be no excuse for anyone's actions.

"Society cannot have stressed people who go and arm themselves with imitation firearms and attack new partners of their former spouses, and certainly not to go to such an extent as to hold them virtually hostage."