A drunken man who told a nurse he planned to stab and kill his housemate has been jailed.

Paul Lord, 49, made the chilling threat at the West Cumberland Hospital having been taken there by ambulance on March 28.

He then repeated his vow to a police officer who had been summoned to the accident and emergency department by the concerned staff member.

Lord appeared at Carlisle Crown Court having admitted making a threat to kill Donna Pearson.

Prosecutor Beccy McGregor said Lord lived with Ms Pearson. He was to claim she had borrowed money from him but not paid it back.

It was while at the hospital that he told a mental health nurse he planned to kill Ms Pearson.

"When asked how he would kill her he said he would take a knife from the kitchen and stab her. He seemed determined, to the nurse, that he would go and do this," Ms McGregor told the court. "The nurse was so concerned that the police were contacted immediately."

A female officer attended.

"She noted the defendant to be intoxicated. When she spoke to him he confirmed it was his intention to kill Donna Pearson should he be released from hospital," added the prosecutor.

Lord was arrested. Ms Pearson was informed and expressed "surprise" about his threat, Ms McGregor saying: "They were friends as far as she was concerned."

Among the 27 offences on Lord's criminal record was a previous threat to stab his brother "until he was dead", the court heard. For that he received a 162-day prison sentence in 2013.

David Thompson, defending, said Lord had "mild mental health symptoms" but was not suffering from any illnesses requiring treatment.

Lord had a "serious alcohol problem, and was "vulnerable to exploitation by others in the community".

"It was not a threat made in anger," said Mr Thompson, who conceded Lord was "all talk and no action when it comes to such things".

Judge James Adkin gave an 18-month prison sentence to Lord, of Fountains Avenue, Workington, for his latest threat to kill.

"She (the nurse) believed you had the full capacity to undertake the threat you were making, and that you were determined to stab Ms Pearson to death with kitchen knives," said Judge Adkin.