A Sauchie woman who produced a lock knife from her bra after being stopped by police officers was this week jailed for a year.
Twenty-nine-year-old Toni Hearns, of Hallpark, had admitted a charge on indictment of having the knife in Mill Street, Alloa, on September 11, 2021.
Fiscal depute Ann Orr told Stirling Sheriff Court on Wednesday that two male police officers, on mobile patrol, at 4pm that day observed Hearns and her partner “clearly under the influence of drugs” judging from “their behaviour and demeanour”.
They were then detained under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Hearns’ partner was searched, but nothing was found.
While waiting for a female officer to attend, Hearns reached inside her bra and removed the knife.
Witnessed by the officers, Hearns was cautioned and charged.
Hearns’ agent Frazer McCready told Sheriff Derek Hamilton that his client had one outstanding sheriff and jury case.
At the time of the offence before the court Hearns had been living in homeless accommodation.
Mr McCready pointed out that Hearns had been assaulted by a male.
She had been using drugs on a daily basis at the time and was “paranoid” that she was going to be assaulted again.
This had caused her to take possession of the knife, he said, adding that her judgement had been “seriously clouded”.
The lawyer also pointed out that Hearns’ methadone prescription had reduced substantially and she was engaging with addiction services.
He accepted that Hearns’ criminal record contained a number of convictions for violence including one involving a knife from 2013.
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Mr McCready stressed however that Hearns was now “doing much better” and further supervision “would allow her to deal with issues” and access her child. She was also fit enough to carry out unpaid work.
He asked Sheriff Hamilton to consider an Community Payback Order combining supervision, unpaid work and a restriction of liberty order.
Sheriff Hamilton however said the offence was very serious one which could not be tolerated.
He noted that Hearns’ record was “of some length” and “littered with breaches of court orders”.
Of significance, he said, were previous convictions for knife possession and several for violence.
A custodial sentence was therefore inevitable.
Noting that Hearns had spent a “very short period on remand”, he limited the sentence to 16 months.
That period was reduced to 12 months to take account of her early guilty plea.
