The court’s hands were tied when dealing with Lee Jenks, with strict guidelines in place for repeat offences involving blades.
The 49-year-old came before magistrates after being charged with possession of a knife in a public place.
He pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared before Chester Magistrates’ Court, with the bench proceeding to sentence him.
Kassem Noureddine, prosecuting, explained how the offence was committed in Warrington town centre on December 31.
Authorities found that Jenks was in possession of a kitchen knife on Bridge Street, without reasonable excuse or authority.
This is the third time he has been found in possession of a blade, and he was previously jailed in December 2022 for carrying a knife and drugs, as well as for assaulting people in a hospital and at a train station.
For his latest knife offence, magistrates gave him credit for his guilty plea, but they remarked that an immediate jail term was inevitable.
This is due to the severity of his offending, in that he has now been caught three times, with a mandatory minimum term set in law for serial knife carriers.
It was said that there were no exceptional circumstances to prevent custody and, given his previous record, ‘no other sentence was likely’.
Jenks, of no fixed abode, but of Warrington, was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, to be served immediately.
An order was also approved to deprive the defendant of the knife seized from him.