Knife was 'ornamental' ex-heroin addict claims after being caught with blade in Blackpool

Former heroin user Sean Baxter told officers he wanted to put the blade on the wall of his flat in Saville Road, which stretches from Bloomfield Road in central Blackpool to Waterloo Road in South Shore.

But they didn’t believe the serial crook, 38, who has 43 previous convictions, Blackpool Magistrates’ Court was told.

They charged him with having the knife in public – a charge he admitted when appearing in the dock yesterday.

The same day, The Gazette revealed how The Joke Shop in Waterloo Road was selling a number of Rambo-style knifes, sparking a debate about their sale.

Bosses at the shop, which used to be in Central Drive before moving ahead of the £300m Blackpool Central redevelopment, said the blades sold there were not sharpened and intended only as decorative.

“The police came in two days ago and everything was fine except one thing, which was a pen-knife with a Batman sign on it,” one worker said.

“We can’t sell anything illegal or we would lose [our licence].”

The court was not told where specifically Baxter bought his knife and there is no suggestion he got it at The Joke Shop, which said it refuses shady punters.

The shop was also found to be selling a barbed wire-wrapped Walking Dead-style ‘Lucille’ baseball bat, similar to one found in a car in Fleetwood last week. Police arrested a 33-year-old Cleveleys man.

Baxter’s lawyer, Brett Chappell, said: “He has a past stained with crime caused by his addiction to heroin.

"He no longer has that addiction and is trying to turn round his life.”

Baxter was given a 26-week prison sentence suspended for a year.

He was also ordered to pay £213 costs.

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