A man who admitted possessing a 14in knife in public was yesterday sent to prison for a mandatory three-year period.

Norton Gerald Thomas, 56, of no fixed abode, showed no emotion as he heard his sentence after Crown counsel Maria Sofianos told Magistrates' Court of a violent encounter Thomas had with Police on February 24.

Officers spotted him on Reid Street, Hamilton, with information that there was a warrant for his arrest.

Two officers approached him outside the Capital G Bank in an effort to question him.

However, when they began questioning Thomas, he began to shout at them, "You're not my father, you're not taking me anywhere!" Officers asked him to calm down but he continued shouting at them while struggling to unzip a compartment in the bag that he was carrying.

The officers, concerned for their safety, tried to take the bag away from him but he refused to release it.

The officers then tackled him, wrestling him to the ground.

A third policeman became involved in the struggle before Thomas could be restrained and arrested. One officer sustained cuts and bruising to his left knee as a result of the struggle.

At Hamilton Police Station, officers searched the bag Thomas was carrying and found a knife, which had a five-inch jagged-edge blade, inside the same compartment Thomas was struggling to unzip earlier.

When cautioned, Thomas told them about the knife: "I'm tired of guys picking on me – I didn't even get the back open!" He was charged with having a bladed article in a public place and violently resisting arrest.

Before sentencing, the court was told the results of a preliminary inquiry report on him, which recommended "a community based sentence," given Thomas' clean record.

However, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner rejected the recommendation, saying even though he had the discretion to issue a suspended sentence, Thomas' lack of remorse warranted prison time.

Mr. Warner ordered that he be imprisoned for three years for the knife possession and another six months for violently resisting arrest, to run concurrently.

Also, he must undergo two years of probation once released.