A man who was arrested after an armed siege in Ipswich has been jailed for five years.

Steven Frost was involved in a stand-off in Parnell Road lasting for several hours last August after calling police to tell them he had a gun and wanted to hand it over.

The 44-year-old, who was living in Parnell Road, barricaded himself in the house with a loaded revolver.

A firearms team and the police helicopter were mobilised during the incident, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

The stand-off lasted several hours before Frost finally came out.

In his possession was a modified Brocock revolver containing six .38 SPL Winchester rounds and three other bullets were found beside the gun. When police knocked at the door of the house Frost’s family did not realise why the officer was there.

By that time Frost had barricaded himself into his upstairs front bedroom using a wardrobe and weights to block the door.

Telephone contact was established and at around 5.10pm Frost agreed to come out on to the stairs without anything in his hand.

However when he appeared at the top of the stairs he was holding the black revolver. He was told to put the gun down and move away but refused and went out of sight.

Frost told police he was being threatened by criminals from the north of the country as he had helped them to launder money.

He claimed to have been given the gun by someone connected to a magistrate.

Frost eventually came out of the house and was arrested.

The court was told he had lived with his sister and her family since June 2011.

During his police interview Frost denied threatening to shoot himself or causing anybody else harm. He said he was going to give the gun to officers, but things got out of hand.

Frost admitted possessing a prohibited firearm on August 24 last year and was given a mandatory five year jail term.

Sentencing him Judge David Goodin said when police recovered the revolver it was loaded and as a result of the incident the police helicopter and firearms team were mobilised.

He said he could not find any exceptional circumstance which would allow him not to impose the mandatory five year jail term for the offence.