Residents had to be evacuated from a block of flats after a man turned on the gas and threatened to blow himself up.
It took police negotiators two hours to talk Keith Mathers out of the idea and a court heard the incident in Colchester ended without anyone being hurt.
The flat, in Rogation Close, Stanway, was the same place where two of Mathers' sons were involved in a siege earlier this year.
Since that incident, 51-year-old Mathers has lost his job and been served with an eviction notice, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
Mathers admitted threatening to destroy his own property in a way to endanger others when he appeared in court for sentence and was jailed for 12 months.
Gareth Hughes, mitigating, said Mathers was suffering from depression at the time and felt he had nothing to live for.
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Published Friday, September 24, 2004
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