A KNIFE-wielding attacker has been jailed after he threatened to “stab up” police in the centre of Exeter.

Liam Ingham had to be tasered by police after launching an unprovoked attack on a student at 4.50am which he was seen filming on his mobile telephone.

He punched the young victim twice to his face and then kicked him so hard as he struggled to get up off the ground that he knocked a tooth out.

Ingham then refused to give himself up to police or hand over a six-and-a-half inch knife from his waistband and was only disarmed after being tasered.

He damaged a police van by kicking the back doors while arrested and in handcuffs.

City centre CCTV showed the attack in Exeter’s High Street, leading to a brawl that drew in other passers-by as they walked home from nightclubs.

Sweet factory worker Ingham, of Bewsley Hill, Copplestone, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm, possession of a knife, and criminal damage and was jailed for 12 months by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: “You made a beeline towards the victim with your phone held in front of you and it seems as if you were filming as you struck him a blow to the face and then with a second blow as he slipped towards the ground.

“You kicked him to the face with some force, so that as well as the cuts and bruises around his mouth, a molar was completely dislodged.

“All the time this was going on, you had a six-and-a half inch knife in your waistband behind your back.

“You said you were carrying it for self-protection reasons, but it would be an understatement to say your attitude towards the police was truculent and they had to taser you. You threatened to stab the officers.”

Mr Paul Grumbar, prosecuting, said the victim was stood near the Santander Bank in the High Street at 4.50am on Saturday, July 2 this year when he was attacked and lost a tooth. He had been drinking and had little memory of what happened.

He said Ingham had to be tasered before he was arrested and when told to drop the knife he replied: “I’m going to stab you up, why do you think I carry this thing.”

Miss Rachel Smith, defending, said Ingham is a “Jekyll and Hyde character” who presents as being very different from the way he behaved that night.

He had exchanged words with the victim in the club and reacted badly when he saw him again in the street.

She said he has a job at a sweet factory in Crediton and helps to look after his mother. He has a history of minor public order offences associated with his diagnosis of ADHD and possible autism.