A MAN with mental illness lived in a disused burger van after being released from hospital.

Damien John George Ridley was staying in the vehicle in someone's garden when police found him carrying a kitchen knife.

Hartlepool Magistrates' Court heard yesterday that the 26-year-old, of no fixed addess, had an "entrenched mental history" and was extremely vulnerable in society.

He was stopped by police in Kimberley Street, Hartlepool, on Sunday after a member of the public reported seeing him with a weapon.

Officers discovered he was carrying a 5in knife, which he claimed he had found and was using to protect himself.

In mitigation, Helen Waites said her client was bordering on psychotic and had previously been sectioned under the Mental Heath Act.

Unemployed Ridley pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon and was given a six-month conditional discharge.

He was also sentenced to a day's detention for outstanding fines, which he had served in police custody, and was ordered to pay £289.50 compensation at a rate of £5 a week for previous convictions.

The knife was seized.