Blackburn magistrates heard there was a man present and Nina Nedelcheva told officers if they hadn’t arrived she would have “cut him to bits”.

Nedelcheva, 43, of Swinless Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place which put her in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed for an offence of possessing a bladed article. She was jailed for six months for the new offence and a further four months for the breach.

Alex Mann, prosecuting, said Nedelcheva had been lodging at the home of a man. He called the police when she said she wanted a ticket to fly home to Bulgaria and then armed herself with a knife when he refused to buy her one.

“She told the officers she wanted to go home and she seemed angry,” said Mrs Mann.

Nick Dearing, defending, said his client was vulnerable. She had come to the UK with a boyfriend and started work at a warehouse in Burnley. The relationship broke down and she started to drink due to loneliness and depression.

“She seems to have an increasing desire to go back to Bulgaria,” said Mr Dearing. “She seems to have got herself arrested so she can spend time in prison and then be deported. If that doesn’t work she will be looking for a one-way ticket to Bulgaria when she is released.”