A New Year’s Eve party guest threw a small knife over a garden fence after police were called to a confrontation with neighbours.

Adam Taylor was visiting a friend in Devon when he went to the party in Exmouth which led to complaints about the noise from people living nearby.

He had already showed the craft type knife to another guest at the party before he went into the street with it as he shouted at neighbours in Nelson Drive.

Police were called to the disturbance and he was seen to throw the weapon over a fence before officers arrived. It was found in a garden.

The case has taken until now to come to court because Taylor jumped bail of went on the run for six months before being arrested in the Midlands in August.

Taylor, aged 23, of Station Street, Walsall, admitted possession of a blade in a public place and failing to answer bail and was jailed for 24 weeks, suspended for 18 months by Judge Timothy Rose at Exeter Crown Court.

He was also curfewed for six weeks and ordered to go on a 19 session Thinking Skills course.

The judge told him: “You need to understand that the courts take the carrying of bladed articles very seriously, even without there being a violent confrontation.

“We hear about the presence of knives on the streets all the time, and have heard a lot about it this week. You are contributing to an immense risk of harm by carrying one.”

Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said Taylor went to a New Year’s Eve party where he drank heavily before showing the knife to another guest at around 9pm.

An argument started which moved into the street and he was seen disposing of the blade into a garden as officers arrived.

He missed a series of court dates in February and a warrant was issued which was not executed until August 17.

Bathsheba Cassel, defending, said Taylor’s life has settled down since he moved away from Devon and he is keen to work with probation to consolidate his progress.