A 22-year-old Glenrothes man avioded a jail sentence and was ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work as an alternative after admitting possessing a knife, a knuckleduster and cocaine.
Sentence had been deferred for a background report on Reese Fairgrieve, of Dunlin Avenue, last month and he appeared for sentence at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.
The court had been told that police had been tipped-off that there may be drugs in a car being driven by an Inverness woman.
But when they intercepted it in a car park in the Longman Estate in Inverness, in the passenger seat was Fairgrieve, who had cocaine powder on his nose.
Officers searched the vehicle on November 10 last year and discovered a knife. Then Fairgrieve told them he also had a knuckleduster.
He admitted possessing the knife, an offensive weapon and cocaine worth about £50 and had sentence deferred until June 28 for a background report.
His lawyer, David Bell, told the court that he had formed a friendship with the woman, whose partner had just been released from prison.
Fairgrieve told police: “I am protecting her.”
Sheriff Margaret Neilson warned Fairgrieve, who admitted previous convictions, that he would go straight to jail if he did not comply with the order, which included 18 months of social work supervision.