A drunken man who was caught showing off to a woman that he was carrying a knife was caught after CCTV operators spotted his ‘stupid’ behaviour.

David Whitehead was seen brandishing the 9cm blade while he was walking through Hartlepool but he tried to hide it when police turned up to arrest him.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the woman with the 43-year-old picked up the knife before throwing it away before she was arrested and cautioned for carrying a different knife.

Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, said Whitehead was spotted staggering along Wynyard Road with the woman at around 11.30pm on April 19 this year while the knife was sticking out of his pocket.

He said council CCTV operators then watched as he pulled the blade out and showed it the woman.

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Mr Ahmad added: “This defendant when arrested became obstructive, pushing back at the officers, he was verbally abusive towards the officers and shouting to the female to go ‘no comment’.”

When police arrested the defendant, he claimed he was having a seizure and while he was at hospital officers recovered a small amount of cannabis that he had stuffed down his sock.

The court heard how he had a previous conviction for possession of an offensive weapon from 1999 and an aggravated burglary involving an imitation firearm.

Daniel Ingham, in mitigation, said urged the judge to ‘step back’ from an automatic prison sentence for his client’s second weapons offence due to the length of time between both incidents.

He said Whitehead had made a ‘very stupid’ decision to carry the knife on that night.

Recorder Thomas Moran sentenced the defendant to six months in custody, suspended for 18 months.

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