Hartlepool man jailed after being caught with 'murderous-looking' knife and then urinating between the bars of his police cell

Patrick Rooney, 35, was found drunk sitting against a wall in Fletcher Walk, Hartlepool, late at night on December 19 last year with a four-inch knife blade (just the blade) in his pocket.

He was on a community order for an earlier offence when he pushed a knife through the letter box of a house causing some damage and then he damaged two garden fences as he tried to escape from angry householders, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Emma Atkinson said that police found him lying on his back shouting: “I’m Patrick Rooney”.

After his latest arrest he urinated through the bars of his cell causing damage.

Rooney failed to appear at Teesside Crown Court and he handed himself in to Hartlepool Police Station on Sunday.

Stephen Constantine, defending, said that Rooney had been searching for his son after losing contact with him.

He said that Rooney was worried about the boy because he had “vanished” with his former partner and he was trying to locate him.

Mr Constantine said that alcohol was at the root of Rooney’s problems and he was anxious to tackle his addiction to it.

The judge said that it was a “murderous-looking” knife , adding: "You had a chance when you came to court for wandering around with a knife, and within three months you are back on the streets with a knife.

”In this day and age people have to know that you will go away if you are wandering around the streets with a knife.

”This is a particularly bad weapon and there is no justification why you did that.”

Rooney, of Owton Manor Lane, Hartlepool, was jailed for nine months after he pleaded guilty to possession of a blade, criminal damage and breach of bail.