A PASSENGER who had a machete hidden up his sleeve in a Glasgow taxi has been jailed for 18 months.
Christopher Halpin, 28, pled guilty to being in possession of the six-and-a-half-inch blade in a taxi heading to Rotherwood Avenue in Knightswood last December.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that in the early hours of the morning, a cabbie picked Halpin up on Great Western Road.
He noticed Halpin had a machete up his sleeve and hailed a passing police car.
Prosecutor Lauren Staunton said: “When he got to the destination he saw the weapon in his sleeve.
“The driver stopped police officers and said to them ‘He’s got a knife’.
“Both police officers saw him throw it away and the machete was uncovered in the passenger footwell of the taxi.”
Halpin was arrested and made no comment.
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Lawyer Scott McQuire, defending, told the court: “He can’t offer any reasonable explanation for this incident.
“He had been drinking and has no clear recollection and he didn’t know what he was doing here."
Halpin has several previous convictions and was himself a victim of a assault in October last year.
Sheriff Martin Jones QC said: “Because of your previous record, if you are caught with one of these items again these sentences are going to get longer and longer.”
Sheriff Jones jailed Halpin for 18 months.
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