A 20-YEAR-OLD jobless man involved in a drunken fight was jailed for nine months by a Southampton judge.

The city crown court heard how a group of youths were celebrating a 19th birthday in a children’s play area in a Thornhill park in the early hours when George Yeates walked past with two others.

Prosecutor Tammy Mears outlined how one said “good evening” to him but Yeates did not accept it, which led to a confrontation and a fight with kicking and punching.

When police arrived at the scene, he tried to run off but was quickly captured, and at the police station he was found to have a small amount of cannabis on him.

Yeates, of Manor Road, Woolston, admitted affray and possessing cannabis.

In mitigation, Robert Pawson said Yeates began using drugs at 16 and, after losing his job as an apprentice electrician, had been drinking too much.