A man who came out of a house wielding a sword was described as "purple in the face with anger."

Blackburn magistrates heard that a woman looked out of her window and saw Bernard Martin Holmes remonstrating with some other people.

He went into another house in Higher Church Street and emerged with the sword and began waving it towards them.

Holmes, 21, of Hawthorne Avenue, Darwen, admitted affray. He was ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work, made subject to a curfew for 28 days and told to pay £400 costs.

The district judge said if her hands had not been tied by the decision of a previous bench, custody would have been likely.

Liz Parker, defending, said there had been an altercation with some other males and Holmes thought he was sorting things out. He accepted he chose an unfortunate way of doing things.