A man who’s been jailed for carrying knives in public began his three-decade career in crime when he was just nine.
Darren Ross has a string of offences dating back to 1992, Dundee Sheriff Court heard.
He has now been locked up for just over a year and a half for his latest crimes.
Ross — now 36 — first appeared as a child offender in 1992, then went to the criminal courts as a young offender at the age of 13, his solicitor said.
He became an adult criminal at the age of 21 in 2003, according to Anne Duffy.
She said Ross had endured a troubled childhood and was an “extremely young and vulnerable” child who was “easily led by others” from an early age.
“The vast majority of his offending was when he was very young,” she told the court. However, she added, his rate of offending had slowed down latterly and his last conviction was as a 33-year-old.
Ross, of Fairbairn Street, admitted two charges of having offensive weapons in public.
He admitted that on May 26 last year, at West Park Road, he possessed a knife, while subject to an undertaking to appear at court.
He also admitted that, on December 4 last year, on Dundonald Street, he possessed a knife, while on three bail orders.
Mrs Duffy said Ross had settled down with a steady partner following his last custodial sentence. She said: “He has tried his best to keep out of trouble and support his partner and support his family — he has tried very hard.
“He understands that custody will follow these offences.”
Sheriff Lorna Drummond told Ross: “You have pleaded guilty to two charges on indictment of possession of knives and you have a very lengthy record, a lot of them for road traffic and drugs offences.
“Your rate of offending has gone down but you received a 20-month sentence for supplying heroin.
“These two offences are so serious that there is no alternative to a custodial sentence and I will also impose a supervised release order.”
She jailed Ross for a total of 87 weeks and told him he will be supervised upon his release for 43 weeks.
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