A Worcester teenager involved in a domestic dispute was found outside his mother’s house with a 10-inch knife, a court was told.

David Kennedy confronted his father, who had a history of ill-treating him, and was easily disarmed, said Peter Parson, prosecuting at Worcester Crown Court.

Kennedy, aged 19, of Portefields Road, Tolladine, admitted possessing a knife in a public place and was given a 32-week custody sentence suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to be supervised by the probation service for 12 months and to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Judge John Cavell said that having a knife in public normally resulted in custody but he was aware of the “unusual” domestic background.

Kennedy had taken the knife to scare his father and was waving it about.

But no charge had resulted and his father had refused to give evidence or attend court. The use of a knife in public was stupid but Kennedy was not someone who would be dangerous.

Mr Parson said the incident happened on October 6 last year after a phone row between Kennedy and his father about the rent he should be paying to his mother for his keep.

Mr Parson said the prosecution accepted Kennedy had been the victim of many beatings by his father Joseph, who had also been convicted of assaulting his sister.

Social services had told Joseph Kennedy not to go to his wife’s house.

David Munro, defending, said there was no evidence to show that Kennedy was in the habit of carrying a knife in the street.

The case was set against a background of domestic violence involving a man at whose hands he had suffered in the past.