A THUG who ruined a wedding reception when he turned up brandishing an eight-inch knife after a row with his dad during the festivities was today jailed.
Liam McKnight flew into a rage after his father told him to calm down during the party at Chamber East, in Dundee’s Panmure Street.
McKnight’s lawyer said the row had been sparked when the teenager swore at a girl who was “chatting him up”.
The 19-year-old jumped up, shouted at his father, then stormed off out of the venue, smashing a glass panel on his way out.
He returned minutes later brandishing the weapon.
His lawyer said he then made off when he “saw the alarm in the eyes” of the stunned guests.
Fiscal depute Vicki Bell told Dundee Sheriff Court: “He had been making strange comments to women during the evening and was acting in an inappropriate manner.
“He returned a short time later with a kitchen knife, which he held above his head.
“He was annoyed at his father and was looking for him.
“The knife was approximately eight inches long and was a kitchen knife.
“He left before police arrived but was found at 4.35am and arrested.
“He was found at Ninewells Hospital, where he had been taken for treatment for a self-inflicted injury that occurred when he kicked a glass panel.
“He denied having a knife and said if he had a knife he would have used it.”
McKnight, 19, a prisoner at HMP YOI Polmont, pleaded guilty on indictment to possessing a knife on February 14.
Defence solicitor Andy Lyall said: “A female came across and engaged him in chat – he felt she was chatting him up.
“He indicated he wasn’t interested – at the time he was texting his girlfriend who was not at the wedding.
“He sat with his family and she again came and sat beside him, undeterred.”
McKnight then swore at the girl in front of his family.
Mr Lyall added: “His father was taken aback and displeased.
“There was an argument and Mr McKnight left and there was a fight outside involving him, his father and uncle.
“He then went and got this knife and came back in.
“He saw the alarm in the eyes of the others and it was brought home to him the seriousness of his actions.”
Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed McKnight for 13 months.
He said: “You went and got a big knife and came back.
“That is a very dangerous set of circumstances.
“It is precisely the set of circumstances in which people can’t be allowed to have weapons.”
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