A man who brandished a knife and threatened a car dealer who allegedly sold his son a defective car was handed a suspended jail sentence after admitting his wrongdoing in court on Tuesday.

Peter Michael Johansen, a 53-year old Dane resident in San Ġwann, had accompanied accompany his son to the Luqa car dealer on Monday afternoon.

His son had purchased a vehicle which had later allegedly turned out to be defective.

A heated argument broke out and the father let his anger get the better of him by demanding a refund of the money forked out by his son.

It was, however, a subdued man who was escorted to court on Tuesday. He pleaded guilty to having insulted and threatened the company employee and having been armed with a knife.

The accused also pleaded guilty to breaching the peace.

Prosecuting Inspector Alfredo Mangion pointed out that although this had been a one-off incident, the man ought to receive some form of punishment so as to teach him how to curb his violent temperament.

Defence counsel Leontine Calleja countered that not only had this been a one-off occurrence but her client had fully cooperated and had no criminal record.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri handed down a 12-month jail term suspended for two years and placed the man under a 3-year protection order.

The court finally also ordered the confiscation of the knife.

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