A man and a woman who were involved in a “terrifying” incident during which an axe was used to smash windows of a house in Stowmarket have been jailed.

Graham Clarke and Ann Cracknell were part of a group that went to the property in Poplar Hill and were seen shouting and acting aggressively, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Cracknell was seen trying to attack the house with an axe before handing it to Clarke who smashed windows at the front of the property with it, said Richard Kelly, prosecuting.

Police went to Poplar Hill at 10.20pm on May 28 last year, following reports of a group of people brandishing weapons and attacking the front of a house.

Mr Kelly said that during the “terrifying” incident the occupants of the property had sought refuge at a house next door

Cracknell, 55, of Combs Wood Drive and Clarke, 52, of Hillside, both of Stowmarket, admitted affray.

Clarke was jailed for 15 months and Cracknell for 12 months.

Ian James for Cracknell said she had been upset because she thought someone in the house had supplied cannabis to a relative.