A driver who collided with a man who “bounced” off the bonnet of his car has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Residents of Monmouth Close, Ipswich, were disturbed early in the morning by Daryl Taylor who had no top on and was banging and thumping on a door, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

His car had the engine running and Taylor was heard to shout: “Come out if you think you are hard enough,” said Hugh Vass, prosecuting.

As Taylor drove off shortly afterwards witnesses saw a man throw a blue wheelie bin at his car and then saw the man run towards Taylor’s car and “bounce” off the bonnet before falling into the road.

Taylor’s car had also hit a parked car and when he was challenged about it he swore at a local resident and threatened to “cut” him, said Mr Vass.

He said the resident had told police that since Taylor had been visiting his girlfriend in Monmouth Close neighbours had been disturbed by loud music and fights breaking out and had stopped letting their children play in the street.

Police officers went to Conway Close at 6.20am the same morning and saw Taylor walking towards the rear entrance of some shops.

He was seen to drop something and officers who went after him found a knife in the road, said Mr Vass.

Taylor, who had been drinking, was arrested after officers threatened to use Parva spray on him if he didn’t put his hands up in the air.

Taylor, who is living in a hostel in Norwich, admitted threatening behaviour and having a knife in Conway Close, Ipswich, on November 25, 2016, and was given a four month jail sentence suspended for two years. He was also made the subject of a restraining order banning him from going within 50m of Monmouth Close.

Lori Tucker, for Taylor, accepted her client had a long criminal record. However, she said that in the day in question he had been upset at the death of a man he had regarded as a father figure and close friend, who had died suddenly at the age of 41 of a heart attack.

“He had been best man at this man’s wedding just six weeks earlier,” said Miss Tucker. She said Taylor had been “extraordinarily upset” and had left the house in Monmouth Close with the intention of harming himself.