A homeless man who carried a knife because it made him feel secure has been jailed.
Gareth Lewis had been out of jail for just 12 days when he was picked up by police with the lock knife in his pocket as he slept rough in Market Street, Exeter.
He is a vagrant who suffers from mental illness and profound deafness and who has previously turned up at the gates of Exeter Prison and asked to be let in.
He was arrested in October less than two weeks after being freed from an earlier sentence for an identical offence, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Lewis, aged 38, admitted having a blade in a public place and was jailed for seven months but will be freed straight away because he has already served his time while awaiting sentence.
Mr David Bowen, prosecuting, said police were alerted by city centre CCTV operators on October 26 last year and found Lewis with other homeless men in a doorway where they were sleeping rough.
He said:"The officers asked him to stand up and he stared at police with clenched fists and moved his hand towards a pocket. He was handcuffed and found to have a lock knife with a three inch blade.
"He has seven previous convictions for weapons offences and had recently been freed from a nine month sentence."
Mr Nick Bradley, defending, said it had been hoped Lewis could receive help from the health service but a report did not suggest any such disposal.
He said:"Bearing in mind his record of offending, this man's case resembles a revolving door. He feels the time in custody has benefitted his health but he is keen to be released.
"He has never used a knife but finds them to be a comfort."
Judge Phillip Wassall said:"In the past he has arrived at the door of Exeter Prison with a knife and threatened to cut himself. It raises the question of whether he is trying to get into somewhere comfortable.
"He has many offences of carrying a knife but has never used one and it does seem that he sees it as some sort of benign comfort to him in the unique way he sees life.
"He has a background of learning and mental health issues which may cause him to take knives out with him."
