A drunken boxer who flew into a rage and wielded an axe outside a wedding reception in a Newbury Park hotel was spared jail today.

Horrified guests at the Holiday Inn in Eastern Avenue saw Christopher Corcoran, 20, screaming and shouting at a car while wielding the weapon in the hotel’s car park, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

He confronted members of the McDonagh family, with whom his relatives are embroiled in a long-standing feud, on April 25 last year, it was said.

Prosecutor Simon Gray said a security guard saw Corcoran furiously chasing after a silver Ford Focus driven by the McDonaghs.

Corcoran was given a 10 month prison sentence suspended for two years, a three month curfew, and an exclusion order from the hotel complex.

Timothy Horgan, defending, said his client was drunk at the time of the incident.

“His recreational interest, which he takes very seriously, is boxing, and for that reason he doesn’t drink much”, he said.

“On this day, he had too much to drink and that affected his judgement.”

Corcoran, of Chingford, admitted two counts of having an article with a blade or point and a further count of having an offensive weapon.