A 19-year-old Sandys man was given a three-year prison sentence after admitting to having a nine inch knife with a five inch blade in a public place.

Crown counsel Maria Sofianos told Magistrates' Court on Friday that Jay Steede, of Farmstead Lane, was spotted by Police officers near the junction of Woodland Road in Sandys on November 4, 2006.

Officers had approached him relating to another matter when they searched him and discovered the knife inside his left pocket, before he was arrested and taken to the Somerset Police Station.

Steede is already serving a three-year sentence relating to the accidental death of his girlfriend through dangerous driving.

Defence lawyer Mark Pettingill told the court that Steede was suffering from depression and asked for a suspended sentence.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo sentenced him to the mandatory three years imprisonment, with time already spent to be taken into consideration.