Former soldier is caught with knife third time
JON MACPHERSON
AFORMER soldier who was caught in possession of a knife for a THIRD time is set to face jail.
Anthony Paul Quinn, 56, was arrested on Richmond Hill Street in Accrington on April 24 this year for possessing a kitchen knife.
He pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to having an article with a blade or point - his third knife conviction in five years. The court heard how Quinn will now be facing a mandatory minimum sixmonth jail sentence.
Judge Beverley Lunt told the court: “He’s got a dreadful record including four knives and one offensive weapon all on one occasion.”
Alexander Rostron, defending, responded: “On that occasion [Quinn] was found moving all his belongings in his car including five knives. He was charged for that.
“He was previously made subject to a hospital order but he was released after six weeks and they decided he was fine, fit and well.”
The Observer reported in 2012 how Quinn pleaded guilty to carrying a wooden handled lock knife, a large black handled machete, a black handled serrated hunters knife, a black handled knife with a serrated blade and a black handled hunters knife on Chapel Street in Oswaldtwistle.
Keen hunter and camper Quinn, formerly of Fountain Street and Lydia Street in Accrington, claimed his ‘Ray Mears style existence’ gave him a reasonable excuse to carry a range of knives in a public place.
In July 2014, Quinn, now of Canal Street, Church, was detained under the Mental Health Act after holding a knife to a man’s throat during an incident in Accrington.
The Observer reported how Quinn left small cuts on the victim’s throat before retreating into his house and throwing objects at police, including a mirror, before climbing onto a window ledge.
The court was told that Quinn was suffering from a ‘delusional order’ and he was given a hospital order.
Judge Beverley Lunt told Quinn at the court hearing this week that he was likely to be jailed.
She said: “I will adjourn this case for a pre-sentence report.
“You know the law. It’s likely that it’s got to be a prison sentence, but that decision won’t be made until everything is known about you.”
Quinn will be sentenced at Burnley Crown Court on November 24 and was granted bail until the hearing.