A TAXI driver pulled out an ornamental sword from the boot of his car during a row with a motorcyclist.

Preston Crown Court was told that Mohammed Bukhari, 37, took the weapon out of his car in a street in Nelson after a disagreement with Barry Linden.

Neil Fryman, prosecuting, said the defendant had to be restrained from swinging the sword at his victim, leaving him fearful of another attack.

Reading a statement by Mr Linden to the court, Mr Fryman said: "I see his car. It is in my mind he may seek revenge.

"It is in the back of my mind that there may be some further trouble."

Defending, Mohammed Nawaz said his client, of Walton Lane, did not seek retribution.

He said: "It was an incident that was impulsive and extremely out of character. His life normally resolves around his family and his work."

Bukhari was sentenced to a six-month custodial sentence, which was suspended for 12 months. Bukhari must also pay £250 towards the prosecution's costs.

The statutory surcharge also applied in his case. The court was told how Bukhari had been arrested alongside a woman who was sentenced at an earlier hearing to a 12-month conditional discharge for obstructing a police officer.

Judge Jonathan Gibson told Bukhari: "You had an altercation with somebody else, it seemed to relate to his motorcycle, and you in the end took an ornamental sword from the boot of your car."

He said that a custodial sentenced was justified for anybody 'who wields a weapon, even if for a short time, on the streets in anger'.