A MAN who ran at police with a carving knife had undergone surgery for a brain tumour just days earlier.

Bolton Crown Court heard how Euan Green called police at 11.30am on May 18 claiming he was unable to pay his rent and was suicidal.

Neil Ronan, prosecuting, told how, half an hour later, a member of the public flagged down a police car telling officers there was a man with a knife in Barchester Avenue, Breightmet.

But as officer drove down the road they were confronted by 20-year-old Green who pointed a large kitchen knife at them and ran towards the car. “He stabbed the bonnet of the police vehicle, so much so that it punctured the bonnet,” said Mr Ronan.

The officers activated their emergency radio and when a colleague arrived with a taser Green jumped into a nearby garden and dropped the weapon.

He was arrested and, when interviewed, claimed he had picked up the knife to protect himself and had thought the officers were going to run him over.

The court heard that just two weeks earlier Green had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and had an operation.

“There is strong evidence that all these circumstances are linked to the brain tumour and subsequent operation,” said the Honorary Recorder of Bolton Judge Timothy Clayson.

Green, of Ribchester Grove, Breightmet, pleaded guilty to affray and possessing a knife and has been remanded in Forest Bank prison since the incident.

Alison Whalley, defending, said Green’s mental health problems have improved on medication, which he will continue to take.

Judge Clayson sentenced Green to a 12-month community order with 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

“Your blameworthiness for what happened is substantially reduced because you were so unwell,” he told Green.