TERRIFIED pub-goers fought off a drunk knifeman in a pub car park by hurling chairs at him.

Bar staff at the Horse and Groom in Rochford refused to serve Gavin Levin, 43, as he was “too intoxicated”.

Levin initially left but then returned to the pub and armed himself with two large knives, which he claims he found “inside the pub”.

He claimed the weapons were for his own protection, but a commotion followed as pub-goers urging him to put the knives down - before fighting him off with chairs.

Steven Attridge, prosecuting, said police received reports of the incident, on October 11 last year, but the suspect had been removed when they arrived.

He said: “He was at the pub earlier that evening but was ejected. He returned later with a knife measuring 6.8 inches in length and was waving it around in front of members of the public in the car park.

“They asked him to put it down but he took out a second one. Chairs and other items had been thrown at the defendant.”

Footage of the incident showed Levin holding the knife and chairs being thrown at him, with people shouting “he’s got a knife”.

Levin, of Rochford Garden Way, Rochford, told police he had picked up the knives for his own protection due to a previous altercation but had no intention of using them.

Recorder Paul Taylor QC gave Levin a four month suspended prison sentence and a four month curfew from 8pm to 6am on Tuesday at court.

He said: “I don’t know if you follow football but you have been given a yellow card today. If you commit further offences within 12 months you will be sent to prison.

“While you behaved like a prized idiot - you could have walked away at any time - you did not at any point threaten anyone with a knife, but they must have been terrified.”