A KNIFE-wielding motorist who brandished a blade as he drove alongside a shocked family has been jailed.

James Ian Waddington, 25, was handed an eight-month sentence at Carlisle Crown Court yesterday.

Waddington was said to have braked hard behind the family's vehicle in the centre of Kendal on February 28. He then drew alongside their car and wound down his window.

As he produced a blade, a 17-year-old girl female occupant was said to have yelled: "He has got a knife; don't get out of the car, dad."

Later that night, police saw Waddington weave and swerve across the A590 near Newby Bridge. Waddington made an obscene gesture at an officer, who had been prevented from passing.

Waddington, of Willowside Park, Haverigg, admitted driving his Ford Focus without due care and attention, and having a bladed article in Kendal. He also pleaded guilty to two no-insurance crimes.

Sending him to prison, Judge Peter Davies said: "People must know that they mustn't have knives and mustn't use