Husband called police warning he was on his way to kill his wife

Vijay Singadia then walked to his wife's home in New Hall Lane, Heaton, and tried to break in through the door before puncturing her car tyres.

Police managed to track Singadia, aged 53, to Bradshawgate where he was carrying a rucksack, knife, chisel and hammer.

At Bolton Crown Court he told Judge Richard Gioserano that he had gone to his former spouse's home only to recover photographs of his late father and son and jewellery which had belonged to his father.

Haseeb Yousaf, prosecuting, told how Singardia and his wife had been married for 20 years and had renovated the New Hall Lane house, but the relationship deteriorated and she and her daughter moved into the property without him.

The court heard that, in the early hours of March 12, Singardia had been drinking at his home in Church Road, and decided to head for his wife's house.

On the way there he called police, telling them: "My wife — I'm going to kill her. I am half way there."

But officers were given the wrong house number and could find no one when they arrived.

Later, just before 2am, Singardia's wife and stepdaughter were alarmed by see him outside and he began hammering on the door, using a hammer and chisel to try, unsuccessfully, to break the lock and get inside.

Police were called, but Singardia had left and they found him on Bradshawgate 40 minutes later.

In a victim impact statement, his stepdaughter said she had been terrified.

"I keep thinking he is going to return and kill me and my mother," she said.

Singardia pleaded guilty to making a threatening communication and two counts of possessing bladed articles.

Stephen Teasdale, defending, stressed that Singardia has no previous convictions and, at the time, was suffering from severe depression.

"He was equipped to enter, what he would say, was his own property," said Mr Teasdale.

Giving evidence from the witness box, Singardia told the judge he had only phoned police because he wanted them to be there when he recovered his possessions from the house and was not intending to harm or cause his wife or stepdaughter.

"I just said it on the spur of the moment," he said.

He added that he had punctured the car's tyres because he had paid for the vehicle and wanted to stop his wife using it.

"Did you not think, even for a moment, you would frighten them?" Judge Gioserano asked Singardia.

"No, I was too intoxicated," replied the defendant.

Sentencing Singardia to 12 months in prison, the judge told him: "You either didn't realise the fear and distress you caused or you did realise and did not care."

He added that, if Singardia had succeeded in getting into the house there was serious risk of a confrontation during which someone could have been injured.

In addition to the prison sentence, a restraining order was made banning Singardia from contacting his wife or stepdaughter for five years, and going within 100 yards of their home or workplace.