A FORTY-six-year old man found “stumbling around” on a residential Carlisle street with a knife in his pocket had previously served a 20 year jail sentence for murder.
Police were called to Norfolk Road in Denton Holme at 4pm on Sunday, August 30, after a concerned local raised the alarm, having seen Steven Barker with the knife, the city’s crown court heard.
Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson said the defendant, given a life sentence in 1997 for a murder involving a knife, was not brandishing the weapon.
Formerly of Rashdall Road, Carlisle, Barker told the judge: “I’d taken it off someone; I though I was trying to do a good turn.
“But it’s backfired on me.” He admitted being “high” at the time. Mr Rogerson said it was after police handcuffed Barker that the officers found the knife - with a four inch blade - in his pocket.
“There is no suggestion he was brandishing or waving the knife around,” pointed out Mr Rogerson. One of the concerned bystanders was a local man who was walking along the street with his 14-year-old daughter, said Mr Rogerson.
Defence lawyer David Wales said of the defendant, who admitted having a knife in a public place without good reason: “He was released from prison in 2016, having spent 20 years behind bars and since that time he has not come to the attention of the police.”
Explaining the knife, Mr Wales said Barker’s friend had a habit of taking knives from the defendant’s home.
He continued: “On this occasion, he noticed that the person he was with had taken another knife from the kitchen and had it with him. Mr Barker took the knife from him.”
Being uniquely aware of the danger of knives, Barker did not want his friend to find himself in the position he was in 20 years ago, said Mr Wales.
On August 30, said Mr Wales, Barker’s judgement was affected because he regularly used Valium.
The lawyer added: “He’s at a loss to explain why he didn’t turn around and return to his home and place the knife back in his kitchen, or deposit it in a bin.”
Jailing Barker for nine months, Recorder Paul Reid QC told him: “You were under the influence of something and that makes you all the more dangerous while in possession of this, even if you had no intention when carrying it.”
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