A MAN has been spared jail after he was caught carrying a knife in the town centre.

Lewis Shackleton, from Culcheth, was arrested after a stranger was threatened with a blade in Warrington Bus Interchange on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 29.

The 20-year-old was caught carrying a ‘7cm black-bladed military style knife’ by police.

He admitted possession of a bladed article in a public place at Warrington Magistrates Court and was handed a six-month imprisonment suspended for a year on Tuesday, October 26.

District judge Bridget Knight said that Shackleton, of Lansdowne, had ‘caused a risk of serious disorder’ but was ‘prepared to suspend the sentence due to his previous good character’.

The judge also told him to serve a 10-week curfew from 7pm to 7am and to pay a victim surcharge of £122 plus court costs of £85, as well as imposing a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days.

Forfeiture and destruction of the knife was also ordered.