News / Taking knuckleduster on ferry lands man back in jail
A THIRTY four year old man who admitted travelling to Shetland with a knuckleduster in his bag has been sent back to prison to serve the remainder of a previous jail sentence.
Kris Godsman, whose address was given as the Travel Lodge at Aberdeen’s Justice Mill Lane, admitted having the offensive weapon without reasonable excuse at Northlink Ferry Terminal in Lerwick on Saturday.
Procurator fiscal Keith Adam said police were meeting the ferry as they often do to detect drug-smuggling activities and had information which “occasioned them to stop the accused”.
While no substances were found, the knuckleduster was discovered in his bag.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said Godsman had recently obtained a job working on the new Aberdeen bypass which he saw as a chance to “break the cycle of going to jail”.
He said the knuckleduster had been given to him as a gift. Godsman thought it was a “novelty item”, though he admitted being aware of what it could be used for.
Allan added his client had no convictions for violence and he had not intended to use it as a weapon. He failed to ensure it was not in his bag “out of stupidity”.
Honorary sheriff Malcolm Bell said it was a serious offence. While admonishing him, he also ordered Godsman to serve an outstanding 402 days behind bars from a previous unexpired sentence.
The sheriff also ordered for the knuckleduster to be forfeited.
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