A primary school at Cury had to be evacuated and security "went into overdrive" at St Ives MP Derek Thomas’s office when both places received bomb threats from a 59-year-old wheelchair-bound man from The Lizard who was dissatisfied with his medical care.

Andrew Snowdon’s solicitor John Boyle, speaking at Truro Magistrates’ Court where his client faced three charges of sending a message of a grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character, and one of assault, and asked for three other telephone threats to be taken into account, said his client would never behave like that again,.

And that, he said, was due to the "almost medieval punishment" he had been given on a journey in a police van from his home to a custody centre at Newquay.

"Travelling in the police van almost killed him…choking, vomiting, being thrown around, it was horrendous, and almost medieval punishment. This more than anything else seems to have shocked him," said Boyle.

Snowden, of Croft Parc, The Lizard, pleaded guilty to telephoning Matthew Perry in MP Derek Thomas’s office in July, stating there was a bomb outside the front door, and to making other threatening calls to a doctors’ surgery on the Lizard, a health centre and Cury Primary School.

He similarly pleaded guilty to telephoning Rebecca Gay, of Adult Social Care, in May, threatening to put bombs in all their council offices and in July telephoning Gail Wilde of ATOS - a company dealing with calls for the Department of Work and Pensions - saying he had sent a bomb in a parcel.

Snowden also admitted assaulting Wendy Wroe of ATOS by throwing a knife at her.

Jill Wilson, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Snowden’s call to adult social care claimed he had been viciously bullied by everybody and if he could not speak to someone independently there would be bombs put in all their council offices. Security had gone into overdrive after the threat to the MP’s office, and there had been huge disruption at Cury School, which had to be evacuated of children.

In May Ms Wroe had called at his home to carry out a mental health assessment for benefits, when suddenly he became very hostile towards her, banging on his desk, was verbally abusive and threw a knife at her, which she managed to avoid.

Mrs Wilson said she did not know whether or not Snowden appreciated the disruption and worry he caused through his actions, particularly to the MP and the school, as he still continued with his telephoned threats after summonses had been served on him.

Mr Boyle said Snowden was very sorry for causing inconvenience and distress and had never wanted to hurt anybody.

"He did it because he doesn’t feel he is getting help from people and this is the only way he might get attention and help," he told the magistrates.

He said Snowden’s perception of the help he needed differed from others.

He was on 20 different medications and suffered from colossal mood swings.

The court heard that a Community Psychiatric Nurse who had seen Snowden had suggested a further mental health assessment.

Snowdon was given an eight week prison sentence suspended for a year and told to pay £200 court costs.

The magistrates advised him to co-operate with assessments and accept the findings of highly trained professionals.