Final chance for Wellingborough man caught with kitchen knife

A man caught with a kitchen knife in Wellingborough's town centre has been given a final chance by magistrates.

Robert Bates, of Mill Road, was just three months into a suspended sentence when he took the weapon into town on May 19.

In February he was given a suspended 21-week jail term for three breaches of a criminal behaviour order and warned he could be jailed if he committed any further offending.

But a few months later he was caught with a kitchen knife with a 4in blade in Market Street.

When he was taken into custody in Kettering police also found cannabis on him.

Bates, 46, has now admitted possession of a bladed article and possession of cannabis.

But magistrates decided not to activate his suspended sentence because they "considered it unjust".

Instead Bates was given another suspended sentence at Northampton Magistrates' Court, with a three-month prison term suspended for 18 months.

Bates must take part in rehabilitation activities and the knife and cannabis will be forfeited and destroyed.

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