A LOAN shark who subjected a family man to a campaign of intimidation has been jailed for 12 months.

Paul Joinson, 33, formerly of Alfred Road in Haydock loaned his victim £1,000 for a family holiday with an extremely high interest rate in August 2013.

When the man who is from Warrington failed to pay back the money Joinson began to increase the intimidation resulting in him threatening the victim’s partner with a knife after forcing entry to their home address.

Investigating officer DC Thomas Hall from Cheshire Police said: “As a result of the threats the victim and his family had to be moved in to secure accommodation to safeguard them from harm while police gathered evidence to arrest the offender. “ Joinson was eventually arrested and charged with aggravated burglary and threats to kill.

He initially denied the offences but later pleaded guilty to putting a person in fear of violence and was sentenced at Chester Crown Court.

DC Hall added: “Joinson′s threats and intimidation had caused the family to live in fear. He had little regard for the effect he was having on this family, but now he is paying the price for his actions.

"This type of behaviour will not be tolerated and we will investigate such crime robustly to ensure those who terrorise our community are brought to justice."