A man caught with an axe and a knife in his rucksack by police who had first seen him “dancing” in the daytime on Carlisle’s Botchergate has been jailed.
Officers on patrol initially noticed 33-year-old Ashley Thomas Hughes at 3pm on December 2. Hughes was “dancing” on a crossing at the top of Botchergate and, after police went past and returned, they found him “spreadeagled” on a car bonnet.
As they removed Hughes from the vehicle, he was aggressive and swore. His rucksack was searched and, in a separate bag within that were a small hatchet-style axe and a long-bladed knife. Both were sheathed.
Hughes later admitted illegally possessing two bladed articles in public and obstructing a PC. But because he had previous convictions for unlawful blade possession, a mandatory minimum six-month prison sentence was triggered.
Carlisle Crown Court heard Hughes, of no fixed address, suffered from a significant and enduring mental illness. Having failed to secure accommodation in Inverness, he had stepped off a train at Carlisle “isolated from society”, said his solicitor.
As Judge Nicholas Barker handed down an immediate eight-month jail term Hughes — appearing over a video link from custody — responded: “Appreciated. Not as bad as what I thought.”
