A chef used a knife from a hotel kitchen to lash out at another man during a violent confrontation in the centre of Exeter.
Steven Bennett took the three and half inch knife for his own protection because he feared he and his brother may be at risk during a night out.
He pulled out the knife and slashed another man with it before fleeing a larger group in the city's High Street and taking refuge at a nearby pub.
Bennett, aged 22, of Barley Mount, Exeter, admitted having a knife in a public place and was jailed for four months, suspended for a year and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work and pay £350 costs by Judge Simon Carr at Exeter Crown Court.
Miss Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said city centre CCTV operators in Exeter alerted police to a disturbance in the High Street in the early hours of June 1 this year in which they saw a man armed with a knife.
The footage showed two people being chased by a larger group who threw road works cones at them. One man moved towards Bennett who used the knife to cause a minor cut to his abdomen.
Bennett sought refuge in a pub and police later recovered a blue handled kitchen knife which had dropped.
Miss Eagles said:"He admitted taking it from the Jury's Hotel in Exeter where he worked for his protection. He said he used it in self defence and this is accepted by the prosecution."
Mr Nick Bradley, defending, said Bennett took the knife because he feared he and his brother may be attacked during their night out in Exeter.
He said:"He regrets what he did and accepts it was an extremely dangerous thing to do and he is fortunate he is not facing more serious charges.
"He has a career and a successful career and will learn from his experience in the criminal justice system and accepts he needs better thinking skills in the future."
Judge Carr told him:"Those who arm themselves with knives and produce them in public can normally expect to go straight into custody.
"I accept you armed yourself that day because of difficult experiences with others but there could not have been a worse way of dealing with it.
"The situation regarding knives is very serious because if they are carried on a significant number of occasions, then people will be injured or killed. You have pleaded guilty and have an exemplary character."
