A knife offender who claimed he was just unlucky has been spared a prison sentence.
When Steven Clelland was caught with a blade he told police officers he'd found it and was about to put it in a bin.
His plea didn't prevent him being charged with carrying a bladed item in public without reasonable excuse.
Clelland, 48, appeared for sentence at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Friday.
He admitted having a knife in Union Street, Larkhall, on May 19 while the subject of two bail orders.
His not guilty plea to a charge that he committed a similar offence in the town's Muir Street on April 19 was accepted.
Chloe O'Hara prosecuting, said police officers spotted Clelland about 8.15am.
She told the court: "He appeared to be slightly intoxicated and made eye contact with the officers before grabbing his jacket pocket.
"The officers approached him and detained him for a search. They found a Stanley knife in his jacket pocket.
"Clelland said 'It was lying on the footpath. I picked it up and was going to take it to a bin. I didn't expect to be stopped by the police going to Farmfoods and back - a four-minute journey'."
Defence agent Ian Scott said that remained his client's position, but added: "He should have taken the knife to the nearest bin and not gone to Farmfoods first.
"He ought to be well acquainted with the rules regarding this sort of thing."
The court heard Clelland has been jailed before for possession of a weapon.
Sheriff Andrew McIntyre told him that carrying a knife "for even the briefest period" is an offence.
The sheriff said: "Your record for having weapons is serious, but you have already spent three months in custody in relation to this matter.
"Rather than send you back to prison, I'm prepared to impose a community-based sentence."
Clelland will be under supervision for a year and electronically tagged for 19 weeks. That means he is confined to his home between 7pm and 7am each day.
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