A teenager armed himself with a lump hammer and went roaming the streets of Coalville to find the men who had attacked his friend.

Jack Dandy and two others were armed and out in the town centre in the early hours of a Saturday morning last November.

The police were called by a worried member of the public who saw a group of men fighting in Memorial Square in Coalville town centre. Moments later another caller reported three men armed with hammers chasing another group of men.

When Leicestershire Police officers armed with Tasers arrived they spotted three young men matching the descriptions in Belvoir Road in the town centre and approached them.

Dandy, an apprentice groundworker, initially denied being armed but after an officer pointed their Taser at him he dropped the lump hammer, which he had hidden up his sleeve.

Another of the three fled the scene and the other was found to have a large knife on him.

The three were found in Belvoir Road but one of them fled

At Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Dandy (18), of Brooks Lane, Whitwick, admitted possessing an offensive weapon in a public place on Saturday, November 17, last year.

Parts of Dandy’s police interview were read out in which he admitted he had gone out to look for the people who had attacked his friend.

A police officer asked Dandy: “Did you go out looking for them?” and Dandy answered “yes”.

He was then asked: “What would you have done if you had found them?”

His reply was: “Start fighting again.”

Prosecutor Stella Moses told the magistrates: “There was a risk of serious disorder or harm if this defendant had found the people he was looking for and the hammer had been used.”

James Buckley, representing Dandy, said the other male arrested with the knife had been given a suspended sentence of six months and he did not think Dandy’s sentence should be longer.

He added: “This is completely out of character. He’s never even spoken to a police officer before.”

He said that since the 999 calls had been anonymous there was no evidence before the court that the hammer had been involved in any violence or threats at all.

He said: “There are no witnesses regarding people being chased – it was an anonymous phone call and there’s no evidence he was involved in using the hammer at all.

“It’s not like he was wandering around the streets of Coalville brandishing the item.”

Dandy was given a 12-month community order which will include 200 hours of unpaid work.

The chairman of the bench, Nigel Siesage, told him: “This really as quite a serious and unpleasant incident and could have become even more unpleasant.

“We are, however persuaded this does not cross the custody threshold.”

Dandy was also ordered to pay £85 in court costs and an £85 victim surcharge.