A DRUG addict who held a meat cleaver to a man's throat during an eight-hour siege in Bournemouth has been jailed.

Matthew Cummings, of no fixed abode, told armed police he had "hostages" and he'd "chop them up" during the incident in Mountbatten Gardens, Townsend, on Saturday, September 12 last year.

He also told officers: "I want some whiskey and crack or I'm going to chop their fingers off.

"You've got 15 minutes."

Police were called to the property at 6.20am after one of the two 'hostages' sent a text to his girlfriend, which read: "Get the police.

"Matthew has a knife."

When officers arrived at the block of flats, they began negotiations with Cummings, 34, who leaned out of a window brandishing the knife.

He shouted: "I'll die here today.

"You'll have to shoot me."

Simon Edwards, prosecuting the case at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday afternoon, said the defendant's speech was "slurred".

Officers called for the two men also inside the flat with Cummings to come down, but one replied: "He won't let me."

The siege didn't end until 2.44pm that day, when the defendant "succumbed" and left the flat.

Mr Edwards said: "There is a somewhat unusual twist.

"The two would-be hostages were spoken to by police. They declined to make statements. It became apparent that they had not been detained against their will."

Robert Grey, mitigating for Cummings, called the incident "bizarre" and a "farce".

"He had been using a great deal of drugs, although not immediately prior to the offence," Mr Grey said.

"He was using heroin and crack cocaine at that time. He'd had very little sleep in the days leading up to the offence."

However, Mr Grey said the defendant takes "full responsibility", adding: "He doesn't blame this on a lack of sleep.

"It is not an excuse but an explanation."

Cummings also stood to offer an apology to the court.

He told Judge Brian Forster QC: "I'd like to apologise to the police force and all the emergency services.

"It was stupid and I regret it very much."

But Judge Forster said the defendant had used a "significant weapon" during the incident, adding: "You were behaving in a dangerous and threatening way."

"On one view of the situation, you were fortunate that you yourself were not shot by the police," he told Cummings.

The defendant was sentenced to 16 months behind bars after admitting making threats to kill and possession of cannabis.