Ex-squaddie waved knife in pub

A FORMER soldier who waved a knife in a pub while drunk has been warned that he faces jail.

Brian Johnson, aged 61, admitted possession of the lock knife in the Walrus in Athenaeum Street on June 28.

Judge Graham Cottle, sitting at Plymouth Crown Court, released him on bail pending a probation report.

But he said: "If you produce a knife in a public place and frighten people with it, it isn't easy to see how a custodial sentence can be avoided."

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Johnson, of Elgin Crescent, Crownhill, denied a related charge of affray and this was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Rupert Taylor, for Johnson, said the father-of-two had 28 years in the Army, rising to the rank of staff sergeant.

He added he had been assaulted and took to carrying a knife to protect himself.

Mr Taylor said: "He was intoxicated and things went from bad to worse when he produced a knife."

He added Johnson was separated from his wife and was a volunteer for Cancer Research, but had now "lost his reputation".

Judge Cottle warned him that giving him bail was no indication that he would not go to jail. Johnson must return to court for sentence on January 11 next year.