Blackburn Magistrates Court. A MAN stopped because he was riding his bike on the pavement was found to be carrying a pruning saw in his pocket.
Blackburn magistrates heard Jason Ludlam told police he had been attacked a few months earlier and was carrying the implement for his own protection. Ludlam, 49, of Bancroft House, Elizabeth Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article in a public place. He was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay £85 costs and £128 victim surcharge. Passing sentence the chairman of the magistrates said that because of the prevalence of knife crime in the country at the moment being caught in possession of a bladed article is a serious offence.