He was jailed for five years over racially aggravated attack

Photos were used as evidence in case against the father-to-be

The 28-year-old threatened Polish national before slashing him in back

Gareth Devlin was photographed waving weapon around in the street

This is the terrifying moment a racist thug waved a samurai sword in the street threatening to 'kill all the Poles' before slashing a man in the back.

In photographs handed to police by a bystander, Gareth Devlin is seen with the weapon in his hand while walking in the street in Teesside.

The 28-year-old was jailed for five years after a court heard how he frightened children by waving the weapon around one summer afternoon.

Gareth Devlin was photographed waving a samurai sword in the street before striking it down on the back of a Polish national he threatened to kill

Polish nationals had been drinking on the afternoon in question, when many of the residents on the quiet street were enjoying the Brazil v Netherlands third-place playoff in the FIFA World Cup.

Devlin and his friend, 24-year-old Joseph Smithson, approached the men, shouting: 'Come on!' Teesside Crown Court heard.

Threatening: 'I will kill you,' he struck the sword down on one man's back as he tried frantically to flee the scene.

'One of the witnesses, to their great credit, grabbed a camera,' prosecutor Paul Cleasby said.

'He was a keen photographer and he was able to take photographs of the assailants.

'That at the time proved to be the best evidence.

'Your Honour sees Gareth Devlin with a sword in his hand in broad daylight walking down the street.

The 28-year-old threatened the group of Poles shouting: 'I will kill you' before striking one of them

Devlin was jailed for five years for the attack after a bystander handed in the photographs to police

'He has attempted to disguise himself with a hood over his face.'

'Were it not for his quick thinking and good work, the Crown would not have the case that they have,' Gazette Live.

Sentencing the father-to-be to five years in jail, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, said: 'You, Mr Devlin, took part in a very bad attack upon this Polish gentleman for reasons only you can understand.

'You know, and you’ve set out in your letter, that only a sentence of custody can be considered, and a lengthy sentence at that.'

He told Smithson the time he had spent on remand - equal to an eight-month sentence - was enough custody for his crime.

Outside court, Detective Constable Alan O’Donoghue, of Cleveland Police, said: 'We very much welcome the sentence given today.

'It sends a clear message that people cannot behave in this way, threatening people in broad daylight in the street.