A KILLER was jailed today after he and an accomplice went on a rampage in Larkfield in Greenock while armed with a machete and a samurai sword.

Kenneth Hendry, 31, and Jordan Boyd, 24, tried to smash their way into a house in Cumberland Road while armed with the deadly weapons.

Hendry — who stabbed a man to death in Greenock in 2002 — and Boyd went to the property on 29 March this year looking for someone who was not at home.

A man who was inside the house desperately tried to hold a door closed as blows were struck against it with weapons.

CCTV footage of the shocking incident was shown to Lady Scott at the High Court in Edinburgh last month when Hendry, previously of Caithness Road, Greenock, and Boyd, of Pembroke Road, admitted their guilt.

They pleaded guilty to being in possession of the weapons and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm.

Advocate depute Iain McSporran said it was ‘perhaps good fortune’ that the person they were looking for was not at home.

He said the pair were shouting aggressively in the street before mounting stairs and smashing a panel of glass in the front door while the man inside the property tried to prevent them gaining access.

Mr McSporran added: “He was confronted by the accused who were brandishing weapons, demanding entry and clearly intent on gaining entry by force.” The prosecutor said the man in the house was behind the door as blows were struck against it.

Mr McSporran said: “He attempted to hold the door closed while the accused made determined efforts to gain entry.

“He was fearful that he was going to be seriously injured.” Police arrived but Boyd escaped through the grounds of a nearby school while Hendry remained at the scene and was detained.

A samurai sword and a machete were recovered and DNA evidence linked the weapons to the pair.

They were initially facing trial accused of trying to kill a man by attacking him with the weapons, dousing him in petrol and setting him alight but that charge was dropped.

As they appeared at the High Court in Paisley yesterday, Judge Lady Scott locked Hendry up for two years and eight months and placed Boyd on a community payback order (CPO).

As part of the CPO Boyd will be supervised by social workers for the next two years.

He was given 12 months to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Hendry was jailed for 10 years in 2004 — later reduced on appeal to eight — after he was convicted of the culpable homicide of David Hamilton.

He stabbed the 32-year-old to death on 16 February 2002 outside a pub in Greenock’s Inverkip Street while the victim was out celebrating his birthday.