A man who walked free from court after brandishing a kitchen knife at three other men has been spared jail again after he was found with a blade stashed in his car.
Tyrell Morton, formerly of Toxteth, breached a suspended sentence when police found the Stanley knife in his Ford Focus after pulling him over on Edge Lane, Liverpool, at 7.30pm on December 31 2021.
He had been handed the nine month sentence, suspended for 18 months, in June that year after pleading guilty to possession of a bladed article in public. A court heard how he armed himself with a kitchen knife and confronted three other men on Vining Street, Toxteth, on April 22.
READ MORE: Knife teen who learned nothing from uncle’s murder walks free
Appearing at Liverpool Crown Court today, the 21-year-old admitted being in possession of a bladed article on December 31, and breaching his suspended sentence.
Such a breach usually means the original custodial sentence will be activated, and the offender will be sent to prison. However, Jason Smith, defending, said the circumstances of Morton's offending were "very unusual", as the Stanley knife was a construction work tool which he had forgotten was inside his car.
He said: "This was a work item. There were other work items in the vehicle. The police went to his employer and he made it clear that, as the manager, he had actually bought the work items, including the blade, for Mr Morton to use."
He added: "While the case does have the aggravating feature of a previous conviction, we're dealing with an unusual situation. We're not dealing with an offensive item, we're dealing with a work item that has been forgotten about."
Judge David Swinnerton said he was "suspicious" of this story, but accepted it as the basis on which Morton's guilty plea was given.
Morton, whose uncle Bala Lloyd-Evans was murdered when he went out to celebrate Liverpool's Champions League victory in 2019, had himself been attacked with a knife while out Christmas shopping in December 2021, just a few weeks before he was caught with the blade in his car.
Mr Smith said that, on November 19, his grandmother's house had been "petrol bombed" in an attack relating to Mr Lloyd-Evans' killing, and that the family fued which lead to the 33-year-old's death was continuing.
"It shows the threat is ongoing and the very real danger that this family faces," he said.
Judge Swinnerton said to Morton: "You are 21 now and I have been seeing you since you were 19. This is the third time you have been in front of me. On the first occasion I passed a sentence of nine months, suspended for 18 months, because you were in the street with a large knife.
"I remember saying to you, you of all people should know the dangers of knife crime, given your uncle was murdered by a knife while you watched. You of all people should have known the risks and dangers, and you know why courts start with prison sentences for people who carry knives.
"You are now facing another offence which you pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article, just six months after I imposed that suspended sentence.
"The basis of the plea - and it's backed up by your employer - is that you had the Stanley knifen for the purposes of work. It was yours to have and to keep. However suspicious I might be of someone who, with these events going on in your background, including the slashing of your face with a knife, I have to accept the plea on the basis is was accepted."
He sentenced Morton to a two-year community order, 20 days rehabilitation, and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
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