Armed man commandeered Mr Whippy van, court told

File photo / Wairarapa Times-Age

A knife-wielding man commandeered a Mr Whippy van and hurled ice creams at passersby, a court has been told.

Joseph David Banks, 21, pleaded guilty in Hastings District Court this week to a raft of charges including threatening to kill, resisting police, disorderly behaviour and possession of an offensive weapon. He was remanded for sentencing tomorrow.

Banks, heavily intoxicated and armed with a butcher's knife, threatened the life of a woman holding her young child in Outram Rd, Hastings, before climbing into a nearby Mr Whippy truck, Hawke's Bay Today reported.

He then proceeded to make himself ice creams and hurled them at people on the footpath.

When police arrived he refused to be handcuffed and resisted arrest until back-up arrived.

Due to his level of intoxication he was unable to be interviewed at the time.

- NZPA