Manwith blades inshop avoidsjail
A man caught with knives in an East Kilbride sports shop has been spared a prison sentence.
A sheriff said this week he had doubts about Kal Clarke complying with a community payback order, but decided not to lock him up.
Clarke, 23, of Douglasdale, East Kilbride, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted possession of the bladed items at Sports Direct in the Plaza Shopping Centre on December 11, 2020.
An allegation of shoplifting was dropped.
The court heard a guard had reason to speak to Clarke about 3.30pm.
Abby Seal, prosecuting, said: “An orange object was seen protruding from his jacket pocket. It turned out to be a Stanley knife and the police were called.
“Officers attended and saw Clarke leaning over some crates. The sound of something metallic being dropped could be heard and this was found to be a lockback knife.
“Clarke told police he was taking it to his mum’s to open storage boxes.”
Asked about the Stanley blade, he protested: “It was less than two inches.”
Jackson Bateman, defending, said Clarke has “difficulties” including “addiction issues” and added: “There are risk factors that can be tackled by supervision.
“Such an order would assist the community as well as Mr Clarke.”
Sheriff Andrew McIntyre pointed out Clarke had breached a previous community payback order and that was replaced by a 20-month custodial sentence.
The sheriff said: “I have real doubts he would comply with a CPO. I’m concerned about the nature of his convictions and the current offence.
“A balance must be struck between giving him a chance and protecting the public from the risk of harm he presents.”
Clarke was put under supervision for a year and electronically tagged for 20 weeks, meaning he’s confined to his home from 7pm to 7am.