A ‘TROUBLED’ man brandished a knife and said ‘come outside and see what I can do with it’ after a row with the mother of a 16-year-old girl who did not want him to have contact with her daughter.

Daniel Walker had already admitted possession of a bladed article in a public place following the incident in Stourport at an earlier court hearing before he was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Friday.

The 27-year-old of Granville Square, Birmingham, had been having contact with the girl and her mother, who had noticed a change in her behaviour, confiscated her mobile phone and bank card, the court heard.

Dean Easthope, prosecuting, said the defendant began to ‘bombard’ the 16-year-old with text messages, trying to find out where she was.

Walker was described as being 'unhappy' when the girl's mother told him to stop contacting her and 'that did not really work'.

The girl arrived home 'dishevelled' and 'appeared to have vomit down her' after meeting with the defendant.

Walker arrived at her mother’s house at 11.40pm on April 19 this year.

“He turned up, kicking the door seven times and said ‘did you think I wouldn’t come?'" said Mr Easthope.

The girl’s mother heard the locking mechanism of the knife and looked out of an upstairs window, asking him if he had a knife to which he replied that he had and said: “Come outside and see what I can do with it."

However, Walker did not cause any damage and left. He was interviewed by police the following day. Walker told them he had picked up the knife from his home address and put it in his pocket, accepting he had no lawful authority to have it.

Mr Easthope said it was an aggravating feature that the lock knife was brandished and that he made a threat.

Balvinder Bhatti, defending, asked that Walker be given maximum credit for his guilty plea at the earliest opportunity. Miss Bhatti told the court the 16-year-old had said she wanted to commit suicide and Walker had been concerned for her safety.

She also told the court the woman did not see the knife being brandished, that he never gained access to the property and that he appeared calm when spoken to by police.

When asked if he had anything on him he offered the knife to the officer immediately. Miss Bhatti described him as someone with ‘significant difficulties’ and said he was unemployed and in receipt of benefits. “It has been a troubled upbringing for him. This is something which is out of character. It’s not an escalation of violence as is common in other cases” said Miss Bhatti.

Recorder Charles Foster said: “People who go out into a public place with knives receive a prison sentence.”

The recorder sentenced him to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months. A community order was imposed for 12 months to include 50 rehabilitation activity days. Walker will also be placed on an electronically monitored curfew between 8pm and 7am for four months.

“You have been given a chance” said the recorder. “Don’t blow it.”