A primary school went into lockdown after a man was seen carrying a large machete in the area.
Hartlepool’s Throston Primary School kept children in the assembly hall and prevented anyone from entering or leaving the premises.
It was after they were contacted by police about Alan Thompson, who was seen by a concerned member of the public carrying the blade in Wiltshire Way and Plymouth Grove.
Armed police also attended the area after initial reports of a man wearing a mask and carrying a sword in the street on February 7. Thompson, 41, also went into Kullars Corner convenience store, in Flint Walk, with the machete, which was captured on CCTV.
But Teesside Crown Court heard nobody inside the shop, where he was a regular customer, noticed.
Thompson, of Glastonbury Walk, Hartlepool, admitted two counts of having a bladed article in a public place.
He said he had the blade for bush craft purposes at Crimdon Dene.
Defence barrister Tabitha Buck said: “He had no intention of going to the school and was not on the school premises.”
Judge Howard Crowson highlighted the recent stabbing at a school in Wales to describe the alarm of carrying knives, particularly near a school.
He told Thompson: “You have I think now been helped to understand that members of the public, particularly those with a responsibility for children, would really have been very worried at the risk you seemed to pose.”
He received a 14-month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years, as well as probation and one year of drug rehabilitation activities.
Leave a Reply