An ex-prisoner caught behind bars with a weapon fashioned from cutlery, razor blades and a shoelace has avoided being sent back to jail.
Connar Hudson was caught carrying the improvised knife while serving time at HMP Grampian in Peterhead last July.
The 27-year-old was stopped by prison officers while going through a metal detector on his way outside for exercise.
He then produced a prison-issue spork from his trousers, which had a shoelace wrapped around the handle for grip and three razor blades attached to the end.
While he had not made the weapon himself, he did admit carrying it without “lawful authority or reasonable excuse” and appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin said: “If this had been dealt with while you were still in prison, I would have undoubtedly considered a sentence.
“But it would seem to be disproportionate to send you back to custody.”
Hudson, of Blackberry Lane, Sutton Coldfield, was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
