Knife man jailed

A LERWICK man was sent to jail for six months after he was found guilty of being in possession of a knife in a public place following a short trial at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Friday morning.

Iain Tulloch, of Harbour Street, claimed he had not been aware of the presence of the small knife in the car he was sitting in at the town’s Ladies Drive until he was approached by police officers on 21 November.

But a joint minute, agreed by both sides ahead off the 30 minute long trial, clearly stated that the knife was found lying in his lap.

It also emerged that the knife actually belonged to the 45 year old and had some sentimental value attached as it had been in the family for some time.

Sheriff Philip Mann had no hesitation of finding him guilty saying “there was no real excuse to be in possession of the knife” and suggested that Tulloch was likely to be tied up “in some kind of drug operation”.

Given his lengthy criminal record, the sheriff said he had no alternative to jailing him for six months, backdated to 23 November when Tulloch was taken into custody.

He was also jailed for 14 days, to run concurrently to the longer prison term, for an outstanding fine matter.

The knife was also confiscated.