Armed reveller caught with "axe" in Sheffield city centre is spared jail
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Sheffield Crown Court heard on October 12 how Jared Galloway, aged 26, of Pelham Close, Mosborough, Sheffield, struggled with police outside a Sheffield nightclub after someone had told officers that the defendant had put something down his trousers.
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Judge Rachael Harrison said Galloway had been caught in possession of an “axe” with a folding knife in the handle on August 15 but she accepted it did not belong to the defendant.
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Hide AdShe told Galloway: “At 4.10am you were outside a nightclub and were passed an article and told to hang on to it and you hid it but did not produce it.”
Sue Evans, prosecuting, said that when police had initially arrived outside Pizza Hut, on West Street, there was no sign of a disturbance but someone said they had seen Galloway putting something down his trousers and he was later found by police outside a nightclub with the bladed article.
Galloway, who has previous convictions, pleaded guilty to possessing the bladed article in a public place after the incident on August 15.
Richard Barradell, defending, said: “There is a huge difference between somebody who goes out for an enjoyable night-out and ends up in his position and someone who goes out with a knife in his pocket ready for trouble.”
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Hide AdMr Barradell added Galloway was not looking for trouble but he ended up in a position where the bladed article was passed to him.
Galloway who runs his own business and helps out at a soup kitchen bitterly regrets the offence, according to Mr Barradell.
Judge Harrison told Galloway: “If you are found carrying a bladed article again there will be a mandatory prison sentence.”
She sentenced Galloway to an 18-month community order with an alcohol abstinence requirement, a rehabilitation requirement and a three-month curfew.
Anyone with information on those who carry weapons should call South Yorkshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.