A SOUTHAMPTON man chased two teens into an ice cream parlour armed with a kitchen knife, a court heard.
Thomas Munnoch stormed into Scoops Gelato in Portswood Road carrying a knife.
Prosecution barrister, Lucie Taylor, told how one of his victims hid in a toilet and another behind the counter.
Three members of staff were also working at the parlour at the time.
The court heard that a group of five 16 to 17-year-old males had been sat outside Scoops together.
An employee described seeing one of the teens either trying to call out or pet Mr Munnoch’s dog.
She then saw the defendant punch one of the youths and a fight erupt.
Miss Taylor told how Munnoch eventually fled the scene when passing members of the public called the police.
Appearing before Southampton Crown Court, Munnoch, of Mayfield Road, Southampton, was charged with affray and possessing a knife in a public place.
He was also charged with assaulting two emergency workers and possessing a class B drug in connection with another incident.
He pleaded guilty to all offences.
The court heard how he has 26 previous convictions for 57 offences.
Some of these include for public order, shoplifting, breaches of court orders and possessing a bladed article in a public place.
Defending, Michael Mason said that his client had saved £1,000 to take his partner on holiday, however, the cash was stolen.
In a letter to the judge, Munnoch said: “Five lads outside Scoops had burgled my house earlier in the day.”
Mr Mason stressed that the defendant was remorseful and sorry for the incident which happened on September 18 this year.
He argued that Munnoch: “Is a young man with great promise. He has held down a job as a groundworker.”
At sentence, Judge Peter Henry said: “Taking a knife and going to look for a group of youths can only have one outcome and that is violence.”
He cited a probation report which said that Munnoch posed a high risk of serious harm to the public.
Judge Henry jailed him for a total of 12 months.
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