A teenager found with a 21 inch machete after an assault in Norwich’s nightclub district has been spared jail.

Police discovered the weapon after Shyla Steward, 18, had been arrested on Prince of Wales Road following a dispute that saw her slap another woman.

Norwich Magistrates’ Court heard that officers had thought she was joking when, asked if she had anything on her that she shouldn’t, she had replied “Yeah, I’ve got a f****** big machete”. 

READ MORE: Moment hero doorman tackles knifeman during Norwich triple stabbing

She had subsequently claimed not to be able to remember where she had got the huge bladed weapon with a wooden handle.

Shyla Steward had seen victim in Norwich nightclubs Mojos and Fluke before assaulting her Shyla Steward had seen victim in Norwich nightclubs Mojos and Fluke before assaulting her (Image: Newsquest)

Hollie Davies-Regan, prosecuting, said the teenager and her victims had seen one another in Mojo and Fluke nightclubs in the early hours of March 3 before matters had come to a head with a confrontation outside Tesco.  

Police watching CCTV remotely had seen the dispute and the victim being slapped and called in other officers to arrest Steward, she added. 

Steward, previously of Motum Road in Norwich, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed item and assault.

She had been warned all sentencing options were open for the “very serious charges” including immediate imprisonment.

But magistrates said they suspended a four month sentence for 12 months telling her: “There is a degree of immaturity here which seems to us that an immediate custodial sentence would be to your detriment.”

The teenager was arrested after assaulting a woman near Tesco on Prince of Wales RoadThe teenager was arrested after assaulting a woman near Tesco on Prince of Wales Road (Image: Newsquest)

READ MORE: Police see steep rise in people carrying knives in Norfolk

They ordered her to complete 15 rehabilitation days and wear an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for 120 days. She must also pay £100 compensation to her victim and costs of £239. 

James Burrows, mitigating, said: “She accepts what she did though she has no recollection of events.

“This was two weeks after her 18th birthday and there has been no further offending since.

“She is a young person who has been through a lot.”