A van driver has been sentenced to 16 months in jail after he pulled out a sword and made a threatening gesture to a young family following a road rage incident.

Joe Frost, 32, from Leicester, was sitting in the passenger seat of a car being driven by his partner when Vinay Kumar Hansrani pulled up alongside them in a van, brandished the 14-inch blade and moved it across his throat in a ‘menacing gesture’.

The couple’s four-year-old son also heard Hansrani tell the youngster’s mother that he was going to kill her.

Leicester Crown Court heard how the incident had begun as they turned off the M1 at junction 21 on their way home from seeing relatives.

Mr. Frost described how he witnessed a van driving erratically and attempting to overtake the family’s car on a number of occasions before cutting in front of them, forcing Mr Frost’s partner to slam on her brakes. She flashed her lights, resulting in an enraged response from Hansrani.

“I know people often lose their temper when driving, but this was different,” Mr Frost told the Leicester Mercury.

“He began breaking violently again and again, causing us to do the same,” he added.

Despite pulling off the slip road, the van reappeared and continued to drive erratically.

It wasn’t until the family pulled up at the Pork Pie roundabout just outside of Leicester city centre that Hansrani pulled out the sword and made the gesture.

“What made it so terrifying was we had no idea why this man who we didn’t know was so intent on hurting us,” Mr Frost revealed.

The couple eventually called 999, citing Hansrani’s registration number and he was later arrested as he pulled into his driveway.

Commenting on Hansrani’s sentence, Mr Frost said: “I’d have liked him to have been given more, but it’s a relief that he’s off the streets.”