A TEENAGER who stabbed a man outside a McDonald’s restaurant has been spared jail.

The 25-year-old suffered puncture wounds after being attacked outside the fast food chain’s branch on Bridge Street in Warrington town centre on the afternoon of Sunday, July 21 2019.

Now, more than a year later, a 16-year-old boy has admitted wounding in connection with the incident.

Appearing at Warrington Magistrates Court on Thursday, July 23, the teen – who cannot be named for legal reasons – also pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, relating to a set of keys he was carrying at the time of the incident.

He was handed a nine-month youth referral order and told to pay a £22 victim surcharge by magistrates.

The victim, from Leigh, was rushed to Warrington Hospital following the incident but was later discharged.

Officers arrested the youth, from Widnes, on Melville Close in Orford around an hour-and-a-half after the stabbing.

Three police cars were seen nearby on Winwick Road, near to the Tesco Extra store, with the boy later released under investigation pending further enquiries.

Cheshire Police moved to reassure residents that the incident was ‘isolated’ and had appealed for witnesses to come forward in order to assist with its enquiries.