Jailed: Telford man was carrying 12-inch knife in street

Officers went to Madeley in response to reports of a disturbance at about 5.40pm on January 14.

They spotted Thomas Greenwood near his flat, in Meadow Lea, with the 12-inch knife in his hand, but he claimed he found it in the street while investigating who was knocking on people’s doors.

Greenwood, a serving prisoner, previously admitted possession of a knife and was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court for the offence.

Mr Hugh O’Brien Quinn, prosecuting, said: “The two officers were on their way when they saw Greenwood walking towards them together with his partner. They noted that he had a large kitchen knife in his hand and saw him scraping it along a wall. At this stage he had not seen the officers.

“They told him to drop it and he did. He was arrested and in his interview he claimed he found it in the road and picked it up. He said it has been left by others who had been causing a disturbance in the street and had now left.”

Debra White, mitigating, told the court that the defendant had been in custody for four months already and as a result missed the birth of his son, and that the new sentence will run alongside his current prison term.

“He apologises to the court for the fact that he appears again for a further offence,” Miss White added.

Greenwood, aged 26, appeared via prison video link. He has 36 previous convictions including possession of a bladed article and possession of an offensive weapon dating to 2007.

A week after his January 14 arrest, he was recalled to prison for six months for a completely separate matter - after he admitted an offence of harassment relating to messages he sent via social media to a stranger whom he claimed had sent requests for images to his wife.

By committing that offence he had breached the terms of his prison release after serving time for dangerous driving in Telford in September 2016.

For possession of the knife Judge Peter Barrie jailed Greenwood for 146 days. He must serve half before being released to serve the remainder in the community. He gave him credit for his guilty plea.

“That you were in position of a knife in a public place is treated very seriously. I have considered everything that Miss White has said about you and read the report. I cannot find anything to justify departing for the statutory guidelines,” Judge Barrie said.