A dopey drinker was arrested after he casually pulled out a Samurai sword at a pub and asked the landlord to keep it safe behind the bar.
James Hannah, 21, told the shocked manager “don’t worry, it’s not for anyone here” as he brandished the deadly weapon in the Grampian Social Club, in Corby, Northants.
The bizarre incident unfolded on July 13 this year after Hannah bumped into a friend and decided to go for a pint.
Because the 12in blade was too chunky to carry around with him, Hannah brazenly handed it over the bar to the manager and asked him to look after it – in full view of customers.
But stunned staff promptly called police who arrived to arrest Hannah as he sat enjoying a drink with his friend – oblivious to the fact he had done anything wrong.
Hannah told cops he was on his way to drop the weapon off at his girlfriend’s house because he didn’t feel safe keeping it as his own flat as his neighbours were “too rough.”
Hannah, from Corby, Northants., was convicted at Northampton Magistrates Court on August 16 after he pleaded guilty to having a bladed article in a public place and possession of an offensive weapon.
Last Friday he was spared a jail sentence at Northampton Crown Court.
Sentencing him to 14 weeks in prison suspended for two years, Judge Richard Bray told him: “The risk of injury in a club when you bring in articles like that is very high, especially when drink is involved.
“I give you credit for your early plea and the probation service have been very impressed.”
