A man accused of swinging a tomahawk in a busy pedestrian mall allegedly told police, who located the small axe in his bag, he had found the weapon "in some bushes".
Michael John Mundy, 33, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with possessing an offensive weapon after he was allegedly seen brandishing a tomahawk in public in early August.
Mundy has not entered a plea to the charge.
