A Dereham man has been jailed for 20 weeks for returning to a town pub with a metal pole after a row with door staff.

James Hayes, 34, had been escorted out of The Romany Rye after beginning to vape, declaring: “I’m going to get mad.”

Magistrates in King’s Lynn heard on Thursday that Hayes was on post-sentence supervision at the time of the offence following an 18-week prison sentence for two counts of battery.

Prosecutor Abubakar Muhammad said vaping was prohibited in the pub and the defendant, who appeared to have been drinking before entering, was led out.

“He said ‘just wait, I will be back’ and it was aimed at one of the door staff,” added Mr Muhammad.

“Approximately 10 minutes later, he arrived back at the pub with one of his hands behind his back.

“The witness [a door staff member] was unsure of what he was holding in his hand.

“The defendant then turned to his side and said ‘where is he?' – referring to his colleague.

“At this stage, the witness could see the bar in his hand. It was about two feet long.”

Hayes was quickly disarmed and taken to the ground, the court was told.

The defendant, of Northgate, pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon in a public place on January 28.

The court was told that he had a conviction in 2009 for possession of a knife in a public place.

Solicitor Tiffany Meredith, mitigating, said her client felt the door staff had been “heavy-handed” with him after the vaping incident, which he hadn’t realised was not allowed.

“But his recollection is not particularly good because of his level of drinking,” she added.

Miss Meredith said her client had not got as far as making a threat and had recently sought help for the alcohol and anger issues which had landed him in trouble over the years.

Hayes was handed the prison sentence and ordered to pay £128 victim surcharge.