Wisbech man caught with knife after fishing trip

Valdas Verikas, 42, of Tindall Close, pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a bladed article in a public place when he appeared in court in King’s Lynn yesterday.

The court heard Verikas had been a passenger in a Rover 45 car which appeared to have been abandoned in Mulberry Lea, Upwell on July 16.

Fergus Harold, prosecuting, said two special constables found Verikas crouching near the car, which they had been pursuing in order to carry out checks on it.

They subsequently found the knife, which had a blade more than three inches long, in his pocket.

Mr Harold said Verikas told the officers he had used the knife for fishing and not put it back in his fishing box.

He said there was no suggestion it had been used for any other person, but the courts still took cases of that sort seriously because of the dangers posed by knives.

George Sorrell, mitigating, said the fishing trip had ended when it began to rain and his client had been unaware that it was illegal to carry a knife of that kind with him.

Verikas was fined £320 and told to pay a further £85 costs, plus a £32 victim surcharge. The knife was ordered to be forfeited and destroyed.