A MAN who was caught with a knife and a baseball bat in Chard town centre claimed he had just taken them from a youth to stop him doing anything stupid with them.

Police were alerted by a report that claimed a male wearing a black hoodie was walking around Chard with a baseball bat up his sleeve.

When they searched the area they found Jamie Lee Owen with a group of three males and he produced a knife from his jacket, saying he had it for his own protection, and they then discovered the bat lying on the grass nearby.

When the 21-year-old defendant appeared before Somerset Magistrates he said that he had taken the weapons from a 15-year-old boy to prevent him using them or stabbing anyone.

Owen, of Old Town, pleaded guilty to being in possession of a knife and an offensive weapon, namely a baseball bat, at Chard on May 13.

Prosecutor Michael Little said that police were on duty in Furzehill shortly before 5pm when they received information that a male wearing a black hoodie was with three other males and had a baseball bat concealed up his sleeve.

They did a tour of the area and saw four males stood in front of a grassed area on Furnham Road and Owen was wearing a black hoodie.

“They searched the male and he identified himself as Owen and then reached into his jacket and produced an aluminium kitchen knife with a four-inch blade,” he said.

Mr Little added: “He held it up and one of the officers took hold of his right wrist and the other took the knife away.

“Owen was arrested for possession of a knife and said he had it for his own protection but then said he had no idea where the bat came from.

“He became violent and aggressive and had to be restrained and then a short distance away the officers saw a wooden rounders bat on the grass nearby.”

The defendant was further arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and said: “I’ve got nothing to do with it, it’s got someone else’s fingerprints on it.”

The case had previously been adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared but Owen had failed to turn up for the appointment with a probation officer.

He told the magistrates that his mate had taken the kitchen knife who he had taken it off him and disarmed him.

He said that he had taken the baseball bat from a 15-year-old boy and had also taken the knife to disarm him.

“I took the baseball bat off the boy and thought it would be a bright idea to take it off him so he couldn’t use it or stab anyone with it,” he said.

“I also had a panic attack when they tried to arrest me and want to apologise to both officers.

“I was a t*** and shouldn’t have done it but I didn’t mean to do wrong and was just protecting other people from a young kid who could not protect himself.”

He added that he had failed to turn up for his pre-sentence report appointment as he was suffering from sickness and diarrhoea.

The magistrates agreed to further adjourn the case, saying a report was necessary before they could sentence Owen.