A MAN'S fear of youths with knives led to his arrest when police found a metal baton in his car on York's outer ring road, a court heard.

Defence solicitor Nicholas Darwin told York magistrates that Peter Jenman carried the weapon in case he met the hooligans again.

But as the weeks went by and he saw nothing of them, he forgot about the baton, until police stopped him at 1.30am, on May 31, on the A1237 between Haxby and Old Earswick.

Steven Ovenden, prosecuting, said officers searched the car and found the baton under other items in the driver's door pocket and arrested Jenman.

Afterwards, his 17-year-old girlfriend, Lucy Chapman, of Malton, told the Evening Press how she was "shaking with fear" as police drove off with him and left her alone on the deserted ring road. A senior police officer told the newspaper that his colleagues had assessed the risk to her and had sent a taxi to pick her up.

Magistrates were unaware of Miss Chapman's predicament when they sentenced Jenman, 21, of Howe View, Duggleby, near Malton. He admitted possessing an offensive weapon in public and was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 prosecution costs.

Mr Ovenden said Jenman was charged instead of cautioned because he already had a caution, from April 2002, for carrying a knife in public. Mr Darwin said that was a small penknife.

The defence solicitor said that six weeks before police stopped him on the ring road, he had confronted youths outside his Ryedale home who had gathered round his car. They left, only to return with a knife and a baseball bat, and Jenman made himself scarce.

"He was in real fear that his car was known," said Mr Darwin. "He was worried in case further threats could be carried out."

He started carrying the baton in his car.

He had never used it and though he had encountered the youths a couple of times since the initial confrontation, he had retreated from them and not used the weapon.

Mr Ovenden said Jenman told police he didn't realise he was breaking the law.

Updated: 10:07 Saturday, July 09, 2005