Thug avoids jail term . . by having too many weapons

Gavin Bain armed himself with the weapons from his home after being involved in a fight and then went looking for the person who had attacked him.

Instead, he walked straight into the arms of the police, who had been called after Bain and his friend got involved in another argument at the party.

He avoided being sent to jail after Sheriff Douglas Kinloch was convinced by the number of weapons he was carrying that Bain only intended to present a “menacing” appearance.

Katie McNair, prosecuting, said Bain, 25, and his co-accused, Moses Johnson, 22, had started a pretend fight at around 1am.

When the playful scrap turned serious, they were asked to leave the flat in Livingston. The pair then turned on other party-goers and the police were called.

At 7am, Bain and Johnson returned to the flat and got involved in another argument.

Ms McNair said that when police arrived in the street outside they saw the pair walking towards them. She said: “Bain was carrying two golf clubs in his right hand.”

She added that he was also shouting abusive threats towards someone at the party.

He dropped the golf clubs when police asked him to, but they then saw a knife sticking out of his back pocket.

“He was searched and four knives were recovered from him,” she said.

Bain and Johnson, both of Livingston, appeared for sentence at Livingston Sheriff Court yesterday.

Bain earlier pleaded guilty to possessing offensive weapons in public on May 15 last year.

Johnson pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner.

Glenn Fraser, defending, said Bain had armed himself in a “show of strength” to scare off the person who had assaulted him.

He said: “It’s just bizarre that the sheer number of items perhaps helps his case.

“This was an attempt to end the whole matter rather than escalate it.”

Kevin Dugan, defending Johnson, said: “What clearly started off as playful activity deteriorated into something more serious. He’s now got to pay the penalty for that.”

Sentencing Bain to be electronically tagged for 135 days, Sheriff Douglas Kinloch told him the charges against him meant he was very close to being sent to prison.

The sheriff said: “Being found in the street in possession of a knife is always a serious matter.

“Strangely, it’s the number of implements that you went home and got which means that I’m persuaded that you armed yourself in order to present a menacing appearance.”

Johnson was fined £240.

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