A man has been fined after police spotted him with a knuckle duster while he argued with a fellow reveller in a busy city centre.
Callum Nichol was seen carrying "something shiny" in his hand during an altercation with another male in Times Square, Newcastle. Officers immediately approached the 23-year-old and watched as he tried to hide the weapon in his trouser pocket, a court was told.
Nichol, of Milling Court, in Teams, Gateshead, was arrested and the knuckle duster was subsequently recovered when he was searched. He's now been fined £200 after he appeared at Newcastle Magistrates' Court to plead guilty to possessing an offensive weapon.
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Elizabeth Winchester, prosecuting, said police were on patrol near Newcastle Central Station on March 18 this year when they saw Nichol in Times Square. Ms Winchester added: "Two males appeared to be having an argument. One of them was the defendant.
"Officers noticed a shiny object in the defendant's hand, which was a knuckle duster. On approaching the defendant, he tried to conceal the item in his right trouser pocket. He was arrested for having an offensive weapon and the knuckle duster was recovered."
The court heard that Nichol, who has seven offences on his record, was a carer for his grandparents and was a "genuine lad". Andy O'Hanlon, defending, said: "He had been on a rare night out. He had been to a few bars and couldn't handle it."
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