A COUPLE cowered in their flat as a man hacked at the door with a 14-inch knife, a court heard.

A senior judge compared the ordeal suffered by John Lickard and Natalie Ogle to a scene from the movie Psycho, as he jailed the knifeman for seven years.

The court was told that the Bootham residents cowered behind a door in their flat while their neighbour Andrew Peter Seammen stabbed at it with a 14-inch knife to get at them.

"It must have been absolutely terrifying," said the Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman. "It was a scene like something comparable with that film Psycho."

Prosecutor David Garnett said that on an earlier occasion the 37-year-old attacker had thrown knives at a police officer called to deal with his drunken outburst in a woman's home.

"You have plainly got deep-seated problems of a psychological or psychiatric nature and you are said to suffer from a psychopathic disorder," the judge said.

"There is evidence your risk (to others) has been escalating over the years and you have got an unusual fascination and preoccupation with weapons. You have got form for threatening other people and using weapons in the process. That makes you a dangerous man."

He locked Seammen up for seven years to protect the public. Seammen, formerly of Grosvenor Terrace, Bootham, pleaded guilty to affray and threatening to kill Mr Lickard.

The court heard that Seammen had been drinking in a local pub in the hours leading up to the attack on March 28. He forced his way through the main entrance to his neighbours' flat, and when its occupants took refuge in their bedroom tried to get through that door as well. But he stopped before he succeeded.

His barrister, Paul Williams, said no one had been injured in the incident, terrifying though it had been. He handed in a psychiatric report that detailed Seammen's mental problems.

A psychiatrist who had visited Seammen while he was on remand had decided that his condition was not suitable for hospital treatment, but he could get help in prison.

Mr Williams said Seammen genuinely wanted treatment that would reduce the risk he poses to other people. His wife was in court and standing by him. He deeply regretted what he had done.

Updated: 10:25 Monday, August 08, 2005