A MAN caught wandering the streets of a seaside town armed with an axe and a hammer in the early hours of the morning has been jailed.

Robert Morris dropped the weapons when he was approached by police after they were alerted after he was spotted on CCTV walking near the High Street in Redcar.

At the time of the incident, the 40-year-old was serving a suspended sentence for an attempted robbery on a woman walking with her young daughter.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Morris had picked up the weapons when he took his dog for a walk after suffering a night terror.

Anthony Pettengell, prosecuting, said the defendant offered no resistance when he was confronted by police at around 1am on May 4.

He said: "Police attended and saw the defendant just off Lord Street near B&M, he was spotted by the police with the axe and the hammer. The officer was about 14 metres away from the defendant and as he got to within ten metres of him, the officer pulled out his Taser and when he asked him to drop the weapons on the ground – he did so."

The court heard how Morris had 36 convictions for 90 offences with his latest being for attempted robbery in Newcastle in July 2019.

Mr Pettengell said the defendant was given a two sentence, suspended for two years at Newcastle Crown Court in March.

Morris shoved the woman and tried to snatch her bag while she was walking with her daughter.

The defendant, who is recovering from cancer, was also ordered to carry out rehabilitation activity requirement days and take part in a drug treatment programme.

Yesterday, Morris, of Westbourne Grove, Redcar, pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article and an offensive weapon.

Andrew Turton, mitigating, said his client is being treated for his drug addiction whilst in prison on remand and was now taking his medication to address his mental health issues.

He added: "Unfortunately, after suffering from a night terror, he left his house in the early hours with the axe and hammer; there had been no confrontation with anyone.

"He recalled his intention was to go to the beach with his dog and get some fresh air to recover from his night terror."

Mr Turton urged the judge to suspend the sentence to enable to work to address his drug addiction to continue.

Judge Howard Crowson sentenced Morris to five months in custody for the weapons charges and activated 18 months of his suspended sentence for the attempted robbery.

He said: "It is encouraging that when you were challenged you dropped them, there was no use of the weapons and the police were able to quickly recover them."

Dealing with the suspended sentence, he judge added: "You breached the sentence quite quickly by carrying out an offence which involved an axe."