A MAN caught with a knuckleduster in a troubled part of York has been banned from the city for two months.

Joshua James Michael McCarthy, 26, may yet be jailed for six months after he had the weapon in Swann Street, off Nunnery Lane on May 31.

In June York magistrates heard how there had been so many reports of anti social and criminal behaviour in that and other streets to the south of Nunnery Lane, police were mounting extra patrols in the area.

In a separate hearing, McCarthy pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon in public and was committed to York Crown Court for sentence.

He gave an Acomb address at the magistrates court, but when he appeared before the higher court, his solicitor advocate James Fox-McGowan handed in a letter from a Salvation Army centre for homeless people in Bradford, saying McCarthy now lives there.

He also said since his magistrates court appearance McCarthy had been getting involved with community activities in Bradford and had come off drugs.

Recorder Margia Mostafa said she wanted to see that McCarthy wasn’t just doing so to try and avoid a minimum six-month jail term because he has a previous conviction for having a weapon in public.

She deferred sentence for two months so he could prove his commitment to his new lifestyle.

She made conditions that McCarthy stays out of York, commits no further offences and observes all conditions placed on him by the centre.

“If what happens is you decide to associate with those that take drugs or take drugs yourself, when you attend at the next hearing, you will have to go into prison for around six months,” she told him.

Mr Fox-McGowan said the Acomb address was an accommodation address for post and that McCarthy had been homeless in York for some time.

In June magistrates granted applications by City of York Council to have two homes linked to problems boarded up for three months. Their occupants are currently having to live elsewhere.