A PATIENT pointed a knife at a doctor at a Radcliffe surgery and said: “I’m going to kill you.”

When he was arrested moments after threat-ening the GP, Christopher Talbot told police: “I will do it again tomorrow.”

Talbot, aged 64, of Seymour Walk, Radcliffe, was arrested and was jailed for 14 months on Friday.

Judge Peter Davies told him: “Doctor Astad Behrana has been nothing but kind to you in the past, offering you lots of help.

"He was left shocked by this awful, intimidating confrontation and has never come across anything like it before.”

The court heard how Dr Behrana had been Talbot’s GP for 21 years.

On March 3, at about 3pm, Talbot went to Radcliffe Medical Centre in Church Street West, and walked into Dr Behrana’s practice room “looking irate and incoherent and under the influence of alcohol”, prosecution counsel Robert Golinski told Bolton Crown Court.

Talbot demanded to be referred to mental-health staff immediately and spoke to Dr Behrana for about five minutes while they were both sitting down.

Talbot then took a silver knife with a 6.5cm blade from a rucksack and pointed it at Dr Behrana before threatening him. As the GP stood up, so did Talbot, who continued to hold out the knife.

But Dr Behrana managed to get out and alert staff who called police.

Talbot fled — leaving the knife behind — and was arrested shortly afterwards.

Mr Golinski said: “He then told police that he would go back the next day and do the same thing. The victim was shocked, upset and frightened. He genuinely thought that his life was in danger.”

Defence counsel Brian McKenna said: “It is a strange case. The defendant has known his GP for some amount of time and it seems the relationship was a good one.

“This is a man who has problems of some sort. There a significant indication that this was a cry for help.”

The sentencing had been twice adjourned while health staff carried out tests to see if Talbot had a mental-health diagnosis, but Judge Davies said he was satisfied that there was no evidence of such a diagnosis.

Talbot, who had a string of previous convictions, had admitted assault, possessing a knife and possessing cannabis at an earlier hearing in March.

Judge Davies added: “This was a frightening attack on a man trying to do his job caring for others. It is important that GPs work without fear of attack, intimidation or confrontation.”