A man grabbed a knife from a pub kitchen then burst onto the street outside – telling a barman he wanted to ‘sort’ the pair who had threatened him.

Joseph Woods’ decision to take the blade from the Lamb Inn’s kitchen was in part influenced by the fact that he had previously been left with head injuries during an unprovoked attack, Oxford Crown Court heard on Tuesday (May 2).

Defending, Bethan Chichester said of her 18-year-old client: “He accepts there was an altercation with some males and accepts it turned violent.

“When it did turn violent, he became scared for himself; if he’s hit to his head, essentially he will die.

“He went into the pub, picked up something to protect himself and came back out. By the time he came out everyone had left.”

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The court was told that Woods was at the Lamb Inn, Wantage, on March 31 when he was involved in the altercation with two other men.

The teenager disappeared back into the pub, snuck into the kitchen – a staff-only area – and picked up a large chef’s knife.

Armed with the six-inch blade, he returned to the car park outside. A member of staff at the pub challenged Woods, telling him to drop the knife.

The young man complied with the instruction, but not before telling the barman that he was looking for the two other men so he could ‘sort them out’.

Woods, of South Moreton, near Didcot, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to possession of a bladed article, non-dwelling burglary and threatening behaviour. The offences were committed while Woods was on bail for an unrelated matter.

Mitigating, Ms Chichester said her client had been a keen amateur boxer and was training to be a roofer when he was the victim of an unprovoked attack. It left him with several broken bones in his face and a bleed on his brain.

The injuries and extensive surgery meant he was unable to play contact sports or work as a roofer. “He’s essentially been knocked back to zero,” his advocate said.

The youngster’s mental health had suffered as a result of the impact of his injuries, and he had struggled to get psychological help through the NHS.

Ms Chichester said Woods was remorseful for his actions.

Recorder Alexander McGregor said the offending was so serious only a prison sentence was appropriate, but said the teenager’s mitigation allowed him to suspend the jail term.

He gave Woods 105 days’ imprisonment suspended for a year. As part of the suspended sentence order, the teen must do up to 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and abide by a mental health treatment requirement.

“You’ve been given a chance now to get back on the right track and to keep away from these kinds of potentially serious offences," the judge said.