A REDDITCH man sparked a “lockdown” in which neighbours were evacuated from their homes after threatening officers that he would “blow them up” with a bomb, a court heard.

Dean Tambling, aged 26, had earlier been seen on CCTV, dressed in camouflage clothing, trying to break down the door of a neighbour’s flat with a 2ft long machete.

When police arrived at his flat in Winslow Close, Redditch, on May 25, he held a plastic bag through the letterbox containing nails, said he had gunpowder, and waved the barrel of an air rifle at them, Gerald Bermingham, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court.

Tambling admitted criminal damage and threatening to cause damage by fire.

Judge Abbas Mithani QC adjourned sentencing until October 14 for further consideration of psychiatric and other reports.

Mr Bermingham said police arrived at the flats after a report of someone trying to break into a flat with a machete.

They knocked on Tambling’s door in the flat above but he shouted abuse and then said if police gained entry he would “blow them up with a bomb”.

Tambling claimed to have a pipe bomb and specialist officers and negotiators were sent to the scene.

He then threw the air rifle out of the window, followed by other items, including a microwave oven and a pint glass.

The area was evacuated and “effectively went into lockdown”, added the prosecutor.

“Throughout the time of negotiation, he was seen to be drinking alcohol and smoking what appeared to be cannabis,” said Mr Bermingham.

Eventually officers forced their way in at 10.38pm and found the bag of nails but no gunpowder.

Marc Davies, defending, said Tambling had an “extremely troubled” upbringing, including poverty and withdrawal from school.

He also had hallucinations and had been treated by mental health teams in the past.

As a teenager he became involved in drugs and alcohol but he had now withdrawn from both and was a family man with two children of his own and two from a partner.

Mr Davies said that the attack on the door was in revenge after Tambling had been assaulted and nobody was in the flat at the time.

He added there had been “no substance” behind the threats, except for the air rifle.

The judge said that if Tambling was jailed he would be “in the same state” when he came out and he wanted more consideration of possible sentencing options.