A MAN has been locked up after being caught carrying a weapon on a street in Warrington town centre.

Jack Tracey was spotted by police in possession of a baseball bat in public, putting him in breach of a suspended prison sentence he was currently serving.

The 21-year-old was subsequently charged with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place and breach of a suspended sentence, and he appeared to be sentenced at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 4.

Here, he was told that only custody was appropriate considering his history of carrying offensive weapons.

Laura Simpson, prosecuting, explained how Tracey committed the offence on October 3 this year.

He was found to be in possession of a baseball bat on Academy Way ‘without lawful authority or reasonable excuse’.

This placed him in breach of a suspended jail sentence imposed by the same court on May 11 for more weapon possession offences, after two curved blade swords were found in his home.

Tracey was also convicted of three counts of criminal damage of Cheshire Police property, a coat and a windscreen.

Other offences included assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, a public order offence and a further assault charge.

For those nine charges, he was sentenced to eight weeks in prison suspended for 24 months.

Following this new weapon possession offence, magistrates activated this suspended sentence

District judge John McGarva took the defendant’s guilty plea into account, however he remarked that the offence was ‘so serious’ that only a custodial sentence could be justified.

This is due to the nature and seriousness of the offence, his previous convictions for similar offences and the fact that he was subject to a suspended sentence for similar offences.

Tracey, of Grasmere Avenue in Orford, was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison.

The court also approved an order for the forfeiture and destruction of the baseball bat.