A Limavady man was observed wearing a balaclava and swinging his arms while holding what police believed was a large hunting knife at a bonfire in the town, a court has heard.
Damien Nicholson was sentenced to four months in prison when he appeared before Limavady Magistrates Court today charged with possession of a hunting style knife.
The court heard that police were in the Glenview Drive area of Limavady just after midnight on August 16 when they observed the 23 year-old crossing the Ballyquin Road before walking towards a bonfire where a disturbance was ongoing.
Nicholson, of Woodland Walk, was wearing a balaclava and police observed him swinging out with both hands.
Officers believed that Nicholson was holding an object in his hands.
A large hunting style knife was found on the ground close to where the defendant was standing.
He initially denied knowledge of the knife, however when police told him that his DNA was found on the item he attended an interview and read out a prepared statement.
He claimed that he had used the knife to help build the bonfire.
A solicitor told the court that Nicholson and a number of other individuals who had attended the bonfire were in an ‘inebriated state’ on the date in question.
He said that it was ‘not a sectarian hostility-based crime’, adding: “The instructions I have is that these people were ‘messing around’.”
During sentencing, District Judge Liam McNally noted that Nicholson has previous convictions for possession of offensive weapons in public places.
“He is no stranger to being out on the streets of this town, or wherever, and being in possession of offensive weapons,” he said.
Judge McNally said the fact that Nicholson was wearing a balaclava and was seen waving his arms about with an object in his hand was ‘sinister’.
“This offence is so serious that really only a custodial sentence is appropriate,” he told him before handing down a four month jail sentence.
Bail was fixed at £500 for the purpose of an appeal.
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