Landlord’s son grabbed two knives

The son of a pub landlord armed himself with two knives and lunged at a drunken man spoiling for a fight.

Scaffolder Benjamin Park, 28, had been left in charge of the Tally Ho in Clyde Street, Canterbury, when a row erupted towards midnight in July 2017.

Leonard Scamp and friends came into the pub and became “rowdy and menacing”, Canterbury Crown Court heard.

Scamp, who was stripped to the waist, then struck a boxing pose in a style a judge described as “like in a cartoon”.

Prosecutor Antony Hook said the incident was caught on the pub’s CCTV and shown to the judge.

Phil Rowley, defending, said Park, of Ashford Road, Canterbury, who had been left in charge of the pub in the absence of his landlord father, was upstairs when he heard the commotion.

Camera footage showed him emerging from the kitchen, where he had armed himself with two knives, before lunging at Scamp.

Mr Rowley said Park then realised he had been wrong to get the weapons and replaced the kitchen knives before picking up a glass and chasing Scamp out of the pub.

The lawyer said Park had not been drinking during the day but later in the evening claimed he’d had “a couple of drinks”.

Mr Rowley said Park had been “de facto” landlord, and deciding to drink was “ill-considered”.

Park pleaded guilty to affray and possessing knives. He was given a 16-month jail sentence suspended for two years, and ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid community work.