A mental health patient spent two months in prison because he didn’t take his medication, York Crown Court heard.

Police spent hours looking for Christopher Mark Graham, 58, after he left home in a confused state on September 25, said Brooke Morrison, prosecuting.

With the help of a member of the public, they found him trying to hitchhike on the A59 at Kirk Hammerton near York. In his bag police found a bayonet blade in its sheath.

They arrested him on suspicion of carrying a blade in public without a reasonable excuse.

Graham was remanded in custody at Hull Prison and sent to York Crown Court for sentence.

Graham, of Butler Road, Harrogate, pleaded guilty to carrying a blade in public. His barrister Victoria Smith-Swain told York Crown Court he had spent eight weeks behind bars, the equivalent of a four-month prison sentence.

Recorder Tahir Khan KC gave him a three-month prison sentence saying that should mean Graham’s immediate release.

He told the defendant: “This was an isolated lapse, and your behaviour was brought about because you hadn’t been taking your medication.”

Graham had had mental health problems for a long time related to a psychotic disorder.

Since the incident in September, Graham had been taking his medication and his condition had improved. A psychiatrist had declared he did not need detention in a psychiatric hospital, said the judge.