A YOUNG man from Ellesmere Port who used a kebab knife to self-harm in public has been spared jail.

Kain Andrew Marshall, 20, was told that possession of a blade normally carries a sentence of immediate custody under strict laws aimed at tackling knife crime.

But magistrates told him that on this occasion they would suspend the prison term due to his personal circumstances and mental health issues.

Said to have a “long history of psychological problems”, Marshall was visibly relieved when he learnt he would not be locked up.

Prosecuting at Chester Magistrates Court on Thursday (November 21), Andrew Downie said the defendant had approached the Texaco garage on Rossmore Road East at around 2am on October 8.

The staff member on duty behind the security window heard the bell ring and spoke to Marshall, who was said to be “erratic and panicking” but “not threatening”.

“He requested that the witness call the police because he had had an argument and had been cutting himself,” Mr Downie said.

“He said he had a knife. He pulled his jacked back and showed a large knife. At this point the witness noticed he had a number of cuts on his arm and neck.”

Police arrived and arrested Marshall after seizing the knife.

“The defendant explained that he had fallen out with a male earlier that evening who he had been working for [at a kebab shop] and who had not paid him correctly,” Mr Downie said.

Richard Simm, defending, said that after the argument with his employer, Marshall had returned to the shop, picked up a knife and started to cut himself, telling the man to call the police. He then went to the garage and asked the female employee to do the same.

Mr Simm stressed his client was a man of previous good character who had pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place at the earliest opportunity.

“He has expressed considerable remorse over the whole incident,” the solicitor said. “It’s really quite a sad case to see somebody like this having to appear before the court and stare down the barrel of custody.”

Mr Simm stressed his client had started taking his medication properly, was engaging with mental health services and had begun to feel better and see things from other people’s perspectives.

Marshall, of Clay Hill Green, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, was handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and must carry out up to 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £122 victim surcharge, which goes into a national pot to support victims of crime. Magistrates ordered that the knife be destroyed.