A KILMARNOCK man has been jailed after threatening to kill and eat two terrified bystanders.

Andrew Kirkwood pleaded guilty to a pair of charges in relation to the incident when he appeared at the town's sheriff court last week.

The 41-year-old admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, as well as being in possession of a knife, during the incident which took place on January 18 in West Netherton Street, Old Street and Wallace View.

The court heard incident took place at around 7.30pm that evening, when two witnesses to the incident were walking home from Kilmarnock's Aldi supermarket.

Fiscal depute Chris Munro told the court the witnesses noticed Kirkwood walking ahead of them on the road, with cars having to swerve to avoid him.

Kirkwood, Mr Munro said, then turned to one of the witnesses and asked them: "What the f*** did you say?"

The pair replied that they had not been addressing Kirkwood, but he continued to shout at them.

Kirkwood, who the witnesses noticed was carrying a knife, then said: “I’m going to stab you to bits. I’m going to slit your throat and eat you.

“You were talking to me. I will stab the life out of you.

“I’m just out the jail and I wouldn’t mind going back there.”

Kirkwood, who was described in court papers as a prisoner at HMP Kilmarnock, then began waving the knife at the pair and repeatedly threatened to stab them.

The witnesses then went into a relative's house nearby in a bid to get away.

They later saw that Kirkwood had made his way into his own home nearby and phoned the police to report the incident.

Kirkwood was arrested and taken to Kilmarnock police office.

The Kilmarnock man's solicitor said the incident had happened just days after his client had been released from prison.

He had not yet received any benefits, and had debts to pay.

“He felt at his lowest at this time," the lawyer added, stating that Kirkwood had then turned to substances and alcohol.

"He just took out his feelings on someone nearby.

"He has a record that does him no favours. It is a short record, but most of it is very recent."

Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart ordered that Kirkwood be returned to prison to serve the remaining 87 days of his previous sentence, and imposed a further seven-month term for the knife threats.

Sheriff Mactaggart added: “The only possible appropriate disposal available to me is custody.

“This must have been a terrible ordeal for the people involved.

“Threats to stab and slit his throat, all while you were possessing a knife, must have been quite terrifying.”