A MOTORIST caught with two machetes and a diver's knife hidden in his car has walked free from court.

But Matthew Swinbank was warned by a judge: "If anything like this happens again, it will probably be prison."

Swinbank claimed the machetes - one hidden in the spare tyre compartment and the other under a false floor in the boot - were for gardening.

The knife was found under the driver's seat when the 23-year-old was stopped in his Subaru Forester in Middleton St George, near Darlington, in January.

He told police he had bought all three items for £20 from Catterick Market in North Yorkshire the previous day.

Teesside Crown Court heard that he claimed the machetes were for cutting down trees and lopping off branches in a friend's garden.

Recorder Martin Bethel, QC, imposed a 12-month community order with supervision and told Swinbank to pay the £250 prosecution costs.

He said: "It is difficult to believe that the machetes were really for agricultural purposes, being concealed in two different places.

"If you are found again with offensive weapons now this is on your record, any court dealing with you in the future is likely to take a very serious view."

Swinbank, of Neasham Road, Middleton St George, admitted three charges of possessing a bladed article on January 12.

He was also ordered to attend a Thinking Skills programme as part of the sentence imposed yesterday.

Ben Pegman, mitigating, said Swinbank had grown up on a farm, and most of the offences on his record revolved around the countryside.

He has a previous conviction for hunting with wild animals, and last year he was prosecuted for poaching.

In 2011, he got a suspended prison sentence for affray, which the court heard was a fight among youths in Darlington town centre.

Mr Pegman produced letters from Swinbank's partner and her mother, and said he was hoping to start his own business.

Mr Recorder Bethel described the weapons as "serious ones" and told Swinbank: "It is right to say they were not produced or used to threaten anyone, at all.

"If they had been, your position would have been very serious, indeed.

“I hope you understand that."