A large meat cleaver was found in the driver’s door pocket of a van stopped in Whaplode.
But the only occupant could not give police much of a reason why it was there, Boston Magistrates’
Court heard on Wednesday.
Vladas Bisturys was given a suspended sentence after admitting having a bladed article in public.
He had been pulled over in High Road at about 10.45pm on April 23.
Prosecutor Fiona McClelland told the hearing: “He said he was in the area collecting scrap and the
meat cleaver was used to collect the scrap.
“Officers asked how that meat cleaver helped him and he had no answer.”
Helen Coney, mitigating, said 45-year-old Bisturys had no previous convictions and the meat cleaver
had just been left in the van.
“It had not been used in any way and it’s not been suggested it’s been used in any way to threaten
anyone,” she added.
“It isn’t a knife, it’s a meat cleaver so it’s uses to him are far more limited. You have someone who
legitimately had it but had forgotten.
“It was just in his vehicle.”
Bisturys, of Severn Road, Spalding, was given three months’ custody, suspended for 18 months.
He was also fined £297 and ordered to pay £187 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
