A DRUNKEN man ran at police brandishing a samurai sword because he thought they were armed officers and wanted them to shoot him.

Daniel Fisher, 24, wanted to die at the hands of the officers and said to one policeman: " I wanted you to shoot me. Why didn't you just shoot me?", Burnley Crown Court was told.

Fisher had had a row with his mother and when he sobered up he told police he had wanted to go back to jail.

The defendant, who had started offending as a youth, had more than 30 previous convictions, including a record for violence.

Fisher, said to have a job on offer, was given four months to prove he can take the employment up, keep it and also keep his nose clean at the same time.

Sentence was deferred until May 10 when a judge said he might give him a community order with supervision and the Thinking Skills programme if he had got his act together.

Judge Philip Butler said Fisher needed help, he would not receive it prison and the only way he would get it was with a probation order.

He said the public would be protected in he long term if the probation service intervened and addressed what was behind the offences.

The judge told the defendant: "That does not mean you are not going to prison.

“I am giving you a chance to prove to me the job offer is genuine, that you want to and are capable of taking it up and are capable of staying out of trouble."

Fisher, of Belvedere Road, Burnley, had admitted possessing an offensive weapon and affray.

Sarah Statham, prosecuting, said the police, from the Operational Support Unit, were frightened for their safety.

Fisher was arrested and questioned and told officers he had black-outs when he really did not know what he was doing and could sometimes get really mad. He had 33 previous convictions. The defendant had spent 38 days on remand.

Miss Statham added Fisher had a conviction for going into a house with an accomplice who was armed with a weapon where the victim suffered nasty injuries.

Richard Taylor, for Fisher, said it was recognised the offences were worthy of custody.

Fisher had had a very difficult upbringing, he had behaved wrongly in various situations that had confronted him and it was a question of his growing up and learning some life skills.