A woman who pleaded guilty to possessing a kitchen knife in a public place was shown leniency in court yesterday.

Felicia Hasan, 38, of North Street, Pembroke told Magistrates' Court she had the knife in order to "cut-up fruit."

Senior Crown counsel Paula Tyndale told the court that on October 22, 2006 Police were called to a disturbance at the junction of Court and Dondonald Street. When they arrived, Police found Hasan shouting "stop f***ing following me" to an unknown man walking by.

They then saw Hasan throw a T-shirt onto the sidewalk. After recovering the shirt, Police discovered a six-inch kitchen knife hidden inside.

Hasan was arrested on suspicion of possessing a bladed weapon in a public place.

She then said to officers: "I'm taking you all to court you hear that? So we can get down to the nitty gritty."

The court also heard that Hassan had previous convictions and was last arrested in August 2005 for wilful damage.

"You can't walk around with knives to peel fruit or to peel people," Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner told Hasan.

He sentenced her to 30 days in prison, suspended for two years, plus two years of probation on condition that Hasan be given psychiatric and rehabilitative treatment.