A man has been jailed after he held police at bay with a loaded crossbow during a siege at his farmhouse home in Farway.

Midweek Herald: Mark Davey. Picture D&C PoliceMark Davey. Picture D&C Police (Image: Archant)

In October, Mark Davey, of Farway, cocked the weapon ready to fire and aimed it at two police officers, who were comforting a woman in the living room.

Davey shouted 'get out of my house' at the officers and refused to drop the crossbow when ordered to do so. Even after he was tasered, he held on to the weapon.

During the incident, a woman and child were cowering behind a sofa, and both can be heard screaming in dramatic footage captured on a police body-worn camera.

After being tasered, Davey retreated upstairs to the landing of the house at Farway, near Colyton, where he remained with the crossbow until armed police arrived around an hour later.

He only gave himself up after two officers, protected by anti-ballistic shields, aimed a baton firing gun at him.

The first officers had been called to the scene due to reports of a lengthy domestic incident. Davey had reportedly gone upstairs to his bedroom and wrecked it, overturning the bed and smashing furniture and ornaments.

Afterward, there was a violent clash downstairs with a woman, in which she sustained a gash to her forehead and was sent sprawling backwards on to an Aga.

Davey then confiscated the woman's phone and left the building, locking her in the house. Only with the help of a lodger, who had a mobile phone, was she able to call for assistance.

Davey was still outside when two officers arrived. They were giving the woman first aid when the door flew open, and he entered while holding the bow in front of him, ready to fire.

At Exeter Crown Court on Monday, January 27, plumber and handyman Davey, aged 44, admitted affray and was jailed for 15 months by Judge Timothy Rose.

The judge enacted a five-year restraining order banning any contact with the woman, other than through solicitors.

He also ordered the crossbow and a bayonet to be destroyed.

Davey was cleared of assaulting the woman at a trial last week but pleaded guilty to affray at an earlier hearing.