Rangers fan had axe, flick-knife and dagger in carrier bag while arguing about football in Mansfield pub
A Rangers fan who walked away from a confrontation over football in a Mansfield pub that could have turned violent had a dagger, a flick knife and an axe in a carrier bag, a court has heard.
Police were called to a report James Quinn had stabbed someone in the early hours of May 26, said prosecutor Adeel Zafar.
When they located him drunk on Ravensdale Road and asked "Where is the knife?" Quinn showed them the bag and claimed he forgot the weapons were there.
His alleged victim was also intoxicated and had a cut on his left forearm, but CCTV showed Quinn walking away from him and into the woods off Barringer Road.
None of the stabbing allegations were supported by the man and the police took no further action.
Mr Zafar said Quinn has 25 previous convictions for 45 offences, including violence and fraud, and he was jailed in 2014 for assaulting an emergency worker.
The court heard he has a relevant previous conviction from 2004 and a "second strike" knife offence usually triggers an automatic six-month prison sentence.
Morgan Hogarth, mitigating, said Quinn didn't produce the weapons from the bag while watching football in a pub and wearing a Rangers shirt earlier that evening.
But he was targeted by a member of a nearby group who made comments about Catholic-Protestant rivalry.
Quinn’s “young life was not by any stretch of the imagination easy” and he was before the courts in Scotland on a regular basis, Mr Hogarth said. But the father-of-five has stayed out of trouble since 2020 when he failed to comply with a court order.
Earlier in May Quinn had argued with his partner and he was staying temporarily with his mother in Mansfield.
Quinn, aged 36, of Downcraig Terrace, Glasgow, admitted three counts of possessing bladed articles when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, via video-link, on June 12.
The case was adjourned for probation reports until Thursday when he received nine months, suspended for two years, with 240 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation days. He must pay a £187 surcharge and £85 costs.
“This is a very serious offence,” the presiding magistrate told him.
“You go to an Old Firm match while intoxicated with a bag full of weapons.”