A Tenby teenager has been handed a community order after being found with a large quantity of cannabis and an offensive weapon in his possession.

Eighteen-year-old Curtis Evans, of Newell Hill, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates court on Tuesday to plead guilty to two separate charges of possessing cannabis and a charge of possessing an offensive weapon, namely a lock knife, in a public place.

Prosecutor Abul Hussain told the court that the first offence occurred on February 3 at around 1.30 pm when police officers attended the Glebe area in Tenby in a relation to an incident.

Officers spoke to two males, and one of them, Mr. Evans was holding something in his hand. They recovered a grinder and cannabis on the floor by his rucksack. A further quantity of drugs was recovered from the defendant’s home address, which amounted to a total of 26.2 grammes of cannabis.

Mr. Evans was again arrested on April 30 in Tenby when police officers came across him behaving suspiciously shortly before 10 pm.

“He appeared to be spaced out and smelt of cannabis. Mr. Evans was searched and again a grinder and cannabis was found in his possession,” explained Mr. Hussain.

“On his arrest, when at the police station, a knife was also recovered from his rucksack. He gave the explanation that it was a hunting knife for fishing.”

Again further drugs were later recovered from Mr. Evans’ bedroom after a search of his home address, amounting to a quantity of 24.91 grammes.

Defence solicitor Jonathan Webb told the court that the cannabis was for Mr. Evans’ own personal use, and the knife was a gift that had been given to him his grandmother previously.

“The pen knife which is some 40 years old was gifted to him by his grandmother, and belonged to his grandad who he’d never met. It is of sentimental value to him.

“Mr. Evans is not a fisherman by employment but enjoys it socially. He had used it a couple of days earlier and it was still in his bag. It wasn’t a knife that was being bandied about or used in a threatening way,” continued Mr. Webb.

“He has never been on court before, he is a stranger to all of this, and it has been an eye opener for him.

“Mr. Evans does have problems with drugs. He has to be careful not to be caught in public again with a knife in his possession as it could result in prison, but to send an eighteen-year-old to jail today simply for making a mistake would be excessive,” added Mr. Webb.

Probation officer Julie Norman told the court that Mr. Evans has told her when interviewed that he has been using cannabis since he was 16, as he had self-diagnosed himself with depression and anxiety.

“It is a large amount to have in his possession for someone of his age, but he is willing to accept some help to address the issue,” she said.

Magistrates told Mr. Evans when sentencing that it was considered by the law to be ‘extremely serious’ having an offensive weapon in public, before handing him a 12 month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work, and a 15 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement to address his drug use.

He was ordered to pay a total of £255 in prosecutions costs, and a forfeiture and destruction order was issue for the cannabis and knife.