A convicted robber is back behind bars after being caught carrying a blade for the third time in eight years.
Lee Amess was seen to throw the red-handled lock knife onto some grass when he was told by police that he was going to be searched outside an address in South Shields.
And when the 27-year-old was informed he was being arrested, he simply replied "whey aye", Newcastle Crown Court was told.
Now, Amess, who has past convictions for robbery and attempted robbery in 2012 and 2015 respectively, both of which involved a knife, is back behind bars after he pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article.
Anne Richardson, prosecuting, said police were called to Ryton Court, in South Shields, on March 26 this year after reports of a male with a knife.
Officers attended and found Amess with a female and, while she was being searched, Amess threw a knife from his pocket onto nearby grassland.
The bladed was retrieved and found to be a red-handled lock knife.
Amess, of Cookson Place, Stanley, in County Durham, was then told he was being arrested and replied "whey aye", Ms Richardson said.
The court heard that Amess was convicted of robbery and possession of a flick knife in 2012, which involved him producing the weapon on a 17-year-old boy.
Then, in 2015, he was found guilty of attempted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon as he tried to raid a shop while armed with a 3ft samurai sword.
Ellen Wright, defending, said Amess had mental health issues after suffering an upsetting childhood.
She added: "There has been efforts to change his life over the past four years and there is a prospect of rehabilitation, which is demonstrated by the efforts he's made."
Jailing Amess for seven months, Recorder David Gordon said: "This was a serious weapon, a lock knife, a nasty weapon.
"You have previous convictions for similar offences and you had no business possessing that knife as you did in a public place."
