A PSYCHIATRIC report has been ordered on a defendant who carried a knife for protection.
Paul Shane Clarke, 23, formerly of Tom Raine Court, Darlington, pleaded guilty to carrying a knife on July 12, when he appeared in court on Tuesday
Darlington magistrates adjourned the case for four weeks for a full psychiatric report.
David Maddison, prosecuting, said Clarke, now of Earls House Hospital, Lanchester Road, Durham, had been stopped by police in Yarm Road, Darlington, at 6.25pm, following reports of a drunken man.
He saw the police and dropped the 3in knife, because he was trying to discard it.
Stephen Bunting, mitigating, said: "He had no intention of using the knife.
He was not brandishing it. He had it to protect himself, should the need arise to scare people off."
Clarke will return to court on September 18.
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