A serial offender admitted having a knife at a Wetherspoons during an incident last September.

David Dunford, previously of Thornton Manor Drive, Ryde, attended the Isle of Wight Magistrates’ Court by videolink from HMP Lewes on Tuesday, February 20, and pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place.

Liz Miller, prosecuting, said police were alerted on the evening of September 21, 2023, to a fight involving three males at Ryde Fowler and Co Wetherspoons on Union Street.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary had received reports of a man in a balaclava brandishing a machete.

Ms Miller told the court police arrived on Cross Street and spotted 42-year-old Dunford throwing a knife to the ground.

Barry Arnett, defending, said the altercation at Wetherspoons involved his client’s son and another person, and it was the other person who brought the knife and potentially a balaclava and machete.

Mr Arnett told the court Dunford had picked up the knife from the floor after his son had contacted the police, and said he was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Mr Arnett said Dunford, who has been in custody since October 2023, accepts he was holding the knife – hence the guilty plea – but denies being the person with a balaclava and machete.

Magistrates adjourned sentencing until March 16.