A man was jailed for nine months yesterday after he pleaded guilty to carrying a knife in public.

Magistrates’ Court heard that Darren Anglin, 33, was approached by police after they received a complaint.

But when Anglin threw up his arms officers saw a folding knife with a 3.5-inch blade fly out of his hands and arrested him. The incident took place on Par-la-Ville Road in Hamilton on April 1.

Anglin, from Hamilton Parish, admitted the offence on April 15 and was remanded in custody for social reports.

He told the court that he carried a knife to protect himself after an ex-girlfriend had sent people to hurt him.

Prosecutor Maria Sofianos told the court that jail time for Anglin would act as a deterrent.

Bruce Swan, for the defence, said that his client suffered from mental health problems that would not be tackled in prison.

However, senior magistrate Juan Wolffe said that Anglin had been sent to the court’s mental health programme before but had been “unresponsive”.

He jailed Anglin with time already spent in custody to be taken into consideration.

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