A FAIFLEY man who was found with two knives tucked into his trouser waistband after police saw him staggering drunkenly along a street in the middle of the night has been spared jail.

David Morrison confessed to having the blades when police pulled over to check on his welfare in Faifley Road in July.

The 25-year-old, of Orbiston Place, appeared in court for sentencing on Friday – when his lawyer called the incident “an ill-judged cry for help”.

Emma Petterson, prosecuting, told Dumbarton Sheriff Court: “At about quarter to four in the morning on July 7, police travelling along Faifley Road observed the accused staggering on the footpath.

“They stopped their vehicle to ascertain his wellbeing, and the accused told police he had two knives in his possession.

“The officers found a silver-handled knife in the right hand side of his trouser waistband, and a black-handled kitchen knife in the left hand side of his trouser waistband.

“He failed to provide a reasonable excuse for being in possession of the items, and was placed under arrest, cautioned and charged.”

Morrison pleaded guilty last month to a charge of being in possession of two bladed items in a public place without reasonable excuse or lawful authority.

Morrison’s lawyer, Phil Lafferty, told Sheriff John Hamilton on Friday: “The explanation he has tendered to the social worker regarding the circumstances is somewhat unusual, but I think there is material in the report which tends to support his position that this was a very ill-judged cry for help.

“He had been released from his one and only prison sentence in April and his world had fallen apart - his relationship had failed, and his mental health was extremely poor.

“This is a very serious offence and he understands that it puts him in a very serious position. But it is noteworthy that he has taken very significant steps since then to address the issues which he acknowledges he has.

“He has done his very best to remedy a situation which was largely of his own making, but was mitigated to an extent by his poor mental health.

“That no doubt affected his judgement, as did the intoxicated state he was in at the time.

“He is clearly in a position where he would make great use of the agencies which are available and which have the capability to provide him with support.”

Click here for all the latest news from Clydebank and the surrounding areas

Sheriff Hamilton told Morrison: “The default position is that someone in your state, found in the street with two knives at four o’clock in the morning, gets the jail.

“You’ve had the jail before. But while the circumstances of the offence are not particularly mitigatory, the circumstances since the offence have made them so, so I am prepared not to send you to prison.”

Morrison was told to do 250 hours of unpaid work, and was placed under social workers’ supervision until October 2020, as part of a community payback order.

Sheriff Hamilton warned him: “If it is established that you have failed to comply with any requirement of the order, given the nature of the offence and your previous conviction, that almost inevitably means the jail.”