Jail for man who dropped axe in police chase in Kirkcaldy

Liam McGarvie was spotted carrying the weapon on CCTV and when searched was also found to have a Stanley knife.

McGarvie, 29, currently a prisoner at Perth, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court by video-link for sentencing. He admitted that on November 8 at Oswald Wynd and High Street, Kirkcaldy, he was unlawfully in possession of an axe in a public place. He was also unlawfully in possession of a Stanley knife.

Depute fiscal Sarah Smith said that at around 1.30am CCTV public space cameras were being monitored by an operator who saw McGarvie in the High Street with a weapon. Police were contacted and officers sent to the scene.

They found him in Oswald Wynd where he started running off but was caught after a chase during which an axe fell from his jacket.

Defence solicitor Brian Black said, “He’d split up from his partner and his drinking had got out of control. He says he found the axe in the vicinity and had picked it up.

“He also says he thought the knife didn’t have a blade in it but that it was gross stupidity to have it anyway.”

Sheriff James Williamson was unimpressed by McGarvie’s claims, saying, “A man who thinks he’s got a knife without a blade then finds an axe in the street.”

The sheriff noted that McGarvie had previous convictions for carrying weapons and jailed him for 20 months.