Man is jailed after seventh knife offence

A MAN who claimed that he didn't realise he had a knife in his pocket has been jailed after being caught with a blade for the seventh time.

Jon James Wood, 31, was jailed for 16 months by Sheriff Kenneth Maciver at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday after pleading guilty to possessing a knife.

The court was told how Wood had been stopped and searched by police on Princes Street in Edinburgh on June 4 this year.

The officers found a lock knife with a two-inch blade inside his jacket pocket, so they arrested and charged him.

His lawyer, Jim Wardlaw, said Wood had grabbed his jacket from the back of a chair at his girlfriend's house and put it on without realising that the knife was in the pocket.

Mr Wardlaw also said that Wood had achieved a degree of stability in his life with the support of the authorities and was now drug-free.

However, Sheriff Maciver said there was no choice but the jail him, given his number of previous convictions. He said: "I note that this is, in fact, your seventh conviction for possession of a knife. I am amazed that you have not got the lesson."