A MAN who dresses in a military uniform was sent to prison at Worcester Crown Court for violence outside a nightclub.

Thomas Dyke was refused entry to the Mirage club in Kidderminster when he turned up drunk.

He made threats to kill door staff before going to a friend's house nearby and arming himself with a knife, said Charles Hardy, prosecuting. Dyke returned to the club dressed in military uniform bent on revenge and tried to stab a doorman, but was pushed away.

He then smashed a window in the club door. Police found the knife dumped behind a wall. Dyke, aged 32, of Old Ford Walk, Walshes estate, Stourport, admitted affray, possession of a blade and cannabis and criminal damage.

Jailing him for 21 months, Judge John Cavell said his behaviour showed a pattern of violence which risked causing serious harm to the public. The offence happened on February 13 just before midnight. Dyke claimed to doormen he was in the Irish Guards.

Abigail Nixon, defending, said Dyke left the Army in 1993 and had been affected when a friend was shot at his side. He claimed the doormen had taunted him about his uniform and he felt this was an insult to all his friends who had died.

Dyke, who wore his uniform in the dock, had taken seven overdoses because of depression but had recently obtained an apprenticeship in a tattoo shop. He had kept out of trouble for five years and not touched alcohol.