Port man 'made a weapon' out of plastic pens whilst jailed

Patrick Goddard was caught in Polmont with a sharply pointed object formed from the pens being melted together.

The 21-year-old committed the offence in June 2017 but was hauled back to court for flouting a 150-hour unpaid work order.

Sheriff Derek Hamilton told him: "People should be safe in jail and not have people shaping things to stab folk with.

"You should have grabbed those 150 hours with both hands because, given your record for violence and weapons, you could easily have got two years in custody."

Goddard, of Wilson Street, was convicted of unlawfully having an article which had a blade or was sharply pointed.

His lawyer, Gordon Nicol, told Greenock Sheriff Court: "He is still a relatively young man."

Sheriff Hamilton issued a stern warning to Goddard from the bench.

He said: "I will give you one final opportunity to stay out of custody and if you don't take it then you're back in the two-year territory."

The unpaid work punishment was revoked and replaced with an electronic tagging order confining him to his home between 2pm and 2am each day for six months.

Goddard has also been placed under supervision for a year.

The sheriff said: "This is an alternative to you getting a couple of years on this charge.

"It says in the background report that you were doing it for your own protection, so we can assume they were intended as weapons."