A sheriff has stated his astonishment knuckledusters are making a return to Fife’s streets.
Sheriff James MacDonald, sitting in Dunfermline this week, hit out as he warned a teenager he could have been sent to prison for carrying one of the offensive items.
He said there had been a rash of similar offences recently.
The latest saw 18-year-old Brendon Maclennan caught with a knuckleduster in the Touch area of Dunfermline.
Prison warning
Sheriff MacDonald said: “I never thought I would see the day when knuckledusters started making a comeback in this sheriffdom.
“I thought those days were gone but you are not the first case I have seen in the last six months with a weapon of this kind.
“These items are offensive weapons in and of themselves and the result is those found in possession of such items will be considered for detention and imprisonment, depending on age.
“You appear before be as a man of 18 with no previous convictions.
“If you had any history of violent offending at all, I would be sending you to Polmont (young offenders institution) right now.”
Alternative to custody
Maclennan, of the city’s Blake Street, admitted having the offensive weapon at a property in Fodbank View, on December 9 last year.
The sheriff court heard police were called at around 3am that day by a member of the public who was concerned about a male banging on their door.
Procurator fiscal depute Catherine Stevenson said officers searched the area and saw a male matching the description, who turned out to be Maclennan.
Before being searched, the teenager produced a silver knuckleduster and was then charged.
Defence lawyer Chris Sneddon said his client had significant adverse childhood experiences but understands the seriousness of the offence.
As a direct alternative to custody, the sheriff sentenced Maclennan to 12 months of social work supervision as part of a community payback order.
He will also be required to undertake a conduct requirement with a view to covering decision-making and consequential thinking as directed by his supervisor.
Other kuckledusters
In March, The Courier told how 19-year-old Ryan Robertson of Hendry Road, Kirkcaldy, was caught with a knuckleduster ring, which he claimed to have for protection after previously being robbed.
The same month, Christopher Kelly, who once beat a suspected informer until he was unrecognisable, was caught in Glenrothes with a knuckleduster.
Kevin Muir, 54, from Strathmiglo, was apprehended at an address in Leslie in April 2020 and claimed his knuckleduster was a tool, not a weapon.
And in November 2019, Blairgowrie man Mark Campbell claimed he was a collector of the weapons after importing one.
