A man who was charged with assault and possession of a knife in November has avoided going straight to prison.

Gulam Mohsin Rahat Izdani was charged with assault and possession of a knife after an altercation in November last year.

Izdani, now 20 but 19 at the time of his court appearance, was hauled before Swindon Magistrates' Court on June 16 where he was sentenced.

He had admitted assault by beating at his first court hearing in December 2021, but denied possessing a bladed article in a public place. He was convicted of the latter charge at trial in May.

For the two offences, Izdani was sentenced to prison for a total of 26 weeks suspended for 2 years.

Magistrates said only custody was suitable because the "knife [was] in a public place with vulnerable people present and previous relevant offences", court documents show.

However, they did not consider it in the interests of justice to impose a mandatory minimum sentence for the knife possession charge "given [the] defendant's circumstance and possible rehabilitation".

But the bench did impose a string of conditions that he must comply with during that sentence.

Izdani, of Luddesdown Road in Swindon, is to remain at his address between 10pm-7am daily for 20 weeks, from June 16 to November 2. This curfew will be monitored by an electronic tag.

He is also to comply with any instructions of the responsible officer to attend appointments, and to complete 25 rehabilitation activity days.

Izdani is also expected to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work within the next twelve months.

On top of this, he was ordered to pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £128 and costs of £650 to the Crown Prosecution Service.