A MAN who admitted carrying a knife on the streets of York has been imprisoned for 17 months.

Jerome Victor Raymond Barlow, of Micklegate, appeared before York Crown Court on Tuesday charged with having a ten-inch kitchen knife in Hallfield Road.

The court heard Barlow, 20, became involved in an altercation with two women in Layerthorpe on September 29 last year, followed them to a flat, and shouted at them from the street.

One of the complainants in the case said Barlow's actions were "psychotic", and he threatened to harm and cut himself while screaming at the window.

The complainants phoned the police, at which point Barlow attempted to hide the knife under a nearby parked vehicle. When police arrived, they recovered the large knife and arrested Barlow, who had bloodstains on his and cuts on his arms.

He was interviewed with an appropriate adult and legal representation, and made no comment, but admitted possession of a bladed article in public when he appeared before the court.

The court heard Barlow had 11 previous convictions for 13 offences in the last three years, some of which also included knives. Barlow was also on two suspended sentences at the time of the offence last September, which had to be partially activated following his guilty plea.

Mitigating, Sean Smith, said Barlow's mental health had been a concern to himself and his family prior to this incident, and he had sought help. While he had been given medication, he found it had not helped, and his attitude became worse when he had drunk alcohol.

However, he had since been prescribed different medication which had "shown a significant improvement in his stability", .

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said Barlow was "drunk and self harming with a knife you had acquired. You were waving it about in the street", he said Barlow "knew as part of that treatment you were not supposed to drink but chose to", and "a custodial sentence was inevitable".

Barlow was sentenced to five months in a young offenders institute for the latest offence, to be served consecutively to nine months from a reactivated suspended sentenced from April 2016, and three months from another suspended sentence dating back to September last year.