A bare-chested man who was seen brandishing a samurai sword in Great Yarmouth marketplace has been given a nine-month suspended jail term and warned that next time he would get an immediate prison sentence.

Aaron Mutton, 22, was involved in a stand-off with another group of young men and was seen to produce a samurai sword which he brandished before fleeing the scene, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Mutton then dumped the ornamental sword in a bin before he was arrested after CCTV operatives alerted police about the incident in the early hours of November 5, last year.

Mutton of Palgrave Road, Great Yarmouth, admitted possession of an offensive weapon and was given a nine-month jail term suspended for a year and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work.

Judge Paul Downes warned him that if he offended again he would go straight to prison.

Ian James, for Mutton said that he had no recollection of the circumstances of the incident.

'He had quite a lot to drink that particular night. He can shed no light on the background circumstances.'

He added: 'He is extremely remorseful. There was an opportunity if he wanted to use the weapon. Rather than fight he turned and ran. He would not have used this weapon to hurt anyone.'