Two men who went armed to a pre-arranged fight escaped an immediate custodial sentence. Luke Wilkes and Kristen Roberts had a 10-inch bladed knife and a 13-inch long machete when they arrived.

The 19-year-olds were confronted by two teenagers carrying bottles and a knife and a golf club near the Red Cow, Allens Lane, Walsall, in the early hour Mrs Kanwal Juss, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.

“There was a fight in the street during which one of the teenagers received a three-inch wound that eyewitnesses had gone down to the bone of his left arm,” she added but there was no evidence that either of the accused were responsible for that injury.

Wilkes, of Martin Court, Leamore, and Roberts, of Rockingham Close, Solihull, escaped by running across a field and walking for a mile before hailing a taxi.

The fight was organised in a phone call minutes before the confrontation and they were arrested soon afterwards.

Both admitted possession of an offensive weapon at about 4am on October 10.

They were each given nine months detention in a young offenders institution, suspended for 18 months, with 120 hours unpaid work and £700 costs.