A MUSIC student has been jailed for 16 months for possessing three knives in his rucksack - a meat cleaver, a large knife and a smaller one - at Newtown.

Defendant Liam James, 27, of Brookside, Telford, was stopped by a police officer as he walked to the railway station on June 28 last year.

He admitted possessing the blades in public and told police that he had them for his own protection.

James gave no comment replies to many questions in his interview but then said that he was in fear for his own safety at the hands of racist people, said prosecuting barrister Karl Scholz.

When an officer said that his fear was no reason to carry the knives, he said he didn't care.

"I carry it if I want.

"Do you think I am going to let someone beat me up? It has already happened before."

Told that the cleaver in particular could cause serious harm, he replied that it would stop people having a go at him.

Judge Merfyn Hughes QC, sitting at Mold Crown Court, indicated that it was a serious matter and said that the public were entitled to be protected from the harm caused by knife crime.

He had armed himself with the weapons because someone had threatened him at a music festival. He was prepared to use them in that situation.

The defendant had not been very forthcoming about an alleged incident at the festival but from what he said to the police his attitude was that no one was going to mess with him and that he would use the knives if threatened.

Sentencing James, he said that the defendant was searched by a police officer at about 4pm on June 28.

He followed the defendant to the railway station and suspected he may be in possession of drugs.

Two knives were found in his rucksack and a meat cleaver was found when the bag was further searched in the police station.

He said that he was in fear for his own safety because of a racist individual.

"You made it clear that you would use them in any incident of disorder," said Judge Hughes.

He said that grave concern had been expressed by the public and those involved in the administration of justice as to the level of knife crime.

"It can lead to very serious and fatal injuries," he said.

"It is clear that you were prepared to use these weapons if you thought it appropriate to do so," he said.

"In my judgement, the public are entitled to be protected from the harm caused by such offences as the carrying of knives.

"This court will do what it lawfully can do to reflect that concern."

Judge Hughes said that the only mitigation was that he did not produce the knives.

The meat cleaver in particular was an extremely dangerous weapon capable of inflicting very serious injury if it had been used against anyone, whether in defence or not.

He had been faced with a threat of violence and it was clear that there was a risk of serious disorder had the officer not disarmed him.

He had a previous conviction for possessing a knife and the starting point, taking into account the number of weapons, would be increased to two years. But he would receive full credit for his guilty plea.

Defending barrister Dafydd Roberts said that he could not escape the fact that he was in possession of three knives, including the cleaver.

But they had not been produced in public or brandished in any way.

There had been an incident at a music festival but he had not reacted by brandishing anything.

"He was carrying them for his own protection. He had been assaulted in the past and he felt the need to protect himself from further assaults," explained Mr Roberts.

But he did not have them to initiate any violence but to protect himself and deter others from attacking him.

He was not an overtly violent man. He had a stable address for the last 12 months - a room within a shared house - and he was in college doing a music course.

That was very important to him and he had been accepted at a Birmingham college to do a B tech diploma in event production and management at level three.

"He sees his future in music and event management," explained Mr Roberts. "He is very keen to be able to continue with his studies."

The offence carried a minimum sentence of six months but he suggested that it would be unjust to impose it.

The court heard how the defendant had a health issue and that he had been using cannabis to help him deal with that.