A JEALOUS lover waved a bread knife around in a pub in a bid to scare off a man he believed to be his former girlfriend's new partner.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard on Monday how Martin Hemmings, of Honeysuckle Field, Chesham, brandished the eight-and-a-half-inch blade in the Wild Rover pub, Amersham Road, Chesham, on March 29.

Hemmings, 40, had been committed for sentence by Central Bucks Magistrates Court in April after pleading guilty to having a bladed weapon in a public place.

Barnaby Evans, prosecuting, told the court on Monday that Hemmings was arrested by police in the pub car park after his ex-girlfriend, Sally Tucker, persuaded him to leave the pub.

Mr Evans explained that four weeks before the offence, Miss Tucker had broken off her relationship with Hemmings because of his obsessive and possessive behaviour.

The court then heard that "rightly or wrongly" Hemmings formed the view that John Walder, a barman at the Wild Rover, was Miss Tucker's new partner.

Mr Evans said Hemmings pulled out the knife after Mr Walder refused to serve him. The pub landlord called the police after Mr Walder ran upstairs.

The court heard that Hemmings had 18 previous convictions involving more than 140 offences some violent.

Jonathan Wright, in mitigation, said Hemmings had many emotional problems which he failed to control when he had been drinking and instead became a social nuisance.

Mr Wright added: "His reactions are usually verbal rather than physical."

He also said that the two months Hemmings had spent in custody since his arrest had been beneficial.

Hemmings was sentenced to a 12 month Community Rehabilitation Order formerly known as probation.