A combination of forgetfulness and showboating by a colleague helped land a Perthshire man in hot water.
When his usual Friday afternoon routine at work changed unexpectedly, John Donachy ended up accidentally taking a knife to the pub with him.
Instead of collecting his wages at the office and leaving the blade in a safe place on September 21 last year, the 48-year-old was given his pay packet at his work station and headed straight out for a drink.
Perth Sheriff Court heard how the berry-picker was spotted by a customer at the Victoria Hotel in Blairgowrie shifting the knife from one pocket to another.
Depute fiscal Charmaine Cole said: “The person who saw it didn’t think anything of it at the time.
“Subsequent to that, Donachy’s co-worker had been showing off his knife to other patrons of the pub. When the police attended to deal with that, the person who had seen Donachy mentioned he also had a knife.”
The court was told that the accused had worked at Thomas Thomson fruit growers for six years and used the knife at work.
Donachy’s solicitor revealed that the knives were “jealously guarded” as other employees would try to get their hands on them, so were usually locked up at the end of the day.
He added: “My client went for a drink that night because it was near the end of the season.
“He accepts he had too much to drink, but recalls simply speaking to a fellow patron of the pub before pulling the knife out, after wondering what was in his pocket, and putting it back again.”
Donachy, of Springbank Road, Alyth, admitted that on September 21 last year, at the Victoria Hotel on Mill Street, he was in possession of a knife.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis imposed a community payback order with a requirement to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work within six months.
He also warned the accused of the tragic consequences his absent-mindedness could have caused.
He said: “The consequences of your actions are all too plain and undoubtedly an exacerbating factor here is that alcohol is consumed and, accordingly, there is always the possibility you could have lost control.”