A MAN who was refused entry to a Weymouth nightclub came back an hour later with a kitchen knife in his trousers, a court was told.

Patrick Robert John Moran was jailed for 36 weeks after admitting offences of possessing a bladed article and assaulting a police officer.

The assault charge related to Moran kicking out at custody sergeant Andrew Marsh following his arrest outside the Dorothy Inn on the Esplanade in the early hours of Saturday March 26.

Prosecutor Clifford Grier told Dorchester Crown Court that Moran, aged 40, of Ranelagh Road, Weymouth, became agitated after being refused entry to the premises and police had to attend at around 4.30am.

Moran left the scene but returned less than an hour later riding a bicycle.

Mr Grier added: “He had acquired a knife, which he had put in the waistband of his trousers.”

He said the defendant did not use or brandish the knife, which was a kitchen knife with an eight-inch blade, but at one stage lifted up his jumper to expose the knife to the door staff.

Soon after he was seen on CCTV, which was played to the court, concealing the knife by some steps further along the Esplanade.

The CCTV also showed Dorothy Inn landlord Steve Parker later being directed by the CCTV surveillance team to where the knife was hidden while Moran remained in the area.

Police arrived and arrested Moran, who kicked out at Sergeant Marsh during the booking in process at the Weymouth custody suite.

Mr Grier said Moran, who was originally from Limerick in Ireland, had 12 previous convictions for 15 offences, including a 44-week prison term imposed last March for an offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Tom Hoarder, representing Moran, said: “He’s the first to admit how stupid he was on that night in question to go back and take this knife.

“He wants to express how sorry he is for any distress caused.”

He added: “I hope the court can accept that it was a stupid and pathetic attempt to intimidate the door staff.”

Mr Hoarder said much of his previous offending stemmed from eight years as a heroin addict but, although he was off class A drugs, he now had a problem with binge drinking.

He said: “His problem has been with the loss of one addiction, it has given rise to another, because the problem with heroin has gone and in its place there is a problem with alcohol.”

Judge Roger Jarvis sentenced Moran to 32 weeks in prison for the offence of possessing a bladed article and four weeks for assaulting a police officer, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

He said: “It is the duty of the court, in my view, to send out a clear message that anybody who is caught with a knife will go straight into custody.”