Man caught with knife in street 'had been cutting lino at home'

David Ward (43) had forgotten to remove the knife from a bag he was carrying when gardai stopped him on a city street.

Judge Anthony Halpin fined him €99 when he admitted a weapons offence at Dublin District Court.

Ward, from Matt Talbot Court in the north inner city, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of the knife on October 7, 2016.

Gardai on patrol at Townsend Street at 10.57am saw Ward acting suspiciously across from the drug treatment clinic at Spring Garden Street.

They saw him concealing something while speaking to another person.

The officer identified himself to Ward as a plain-clothes garda and took him to Pearse Street Garda Station to be searched.

Excuse

A yellow Stanley knife fell from Ward's pocket and gardai believed he had no excuse for having this.

Ward had a large number of previous convictions.

The defendant had moved into a flat and was cutting lino and wallpaper, his lawyer said. He forgot the knife was in his bag.

Judge Halpin asked if the knife was an "ordinary Stanley knife with a retractable blade".

Ward's lawyer replied that it was a plastic knife with a blade.

"If you fell you could do yourself a serious injury," said Judge Halpin.

"He certainly isn't a person of violent propensity," Ward's lawyer said. "It isn't in his nature."

The defendant was single and worked for a charity one day per week. He was making improvements in his life.

"He looks a lot better today than he did in the past so it's obviously working," said Judge Halpin.