A FACTORY worker caught carrying a kitchen knife in the street has been spared jail.

Matthew Tracey came out of his house with the weapon after masked youths kicked at his front and back door in the early hours of the morning on December 1 last year.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the 24-year-old took to the streets with the blade in a bid to find the raiders while his girlfriend waited inside his home at Arnold Street, Boldon, South Tyneside, for the police to arrive.

Tracey was arrested before he could track down the culprits.

At an earlier hearing he admitted having a bladed article.

The court heard at the time of the incident he was the subject of a suspended sentence imposed six months earlier for an attack on Christopher Simpson.

Mr Simpson was left with a fractured jaw, two black eyes and lost three teeth as a result of what happened to him.

Tracey had admitted causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Simpson on the basis he threw just one punch during the attack he carried out with another man.

He received a nine month prison sentence suspended for two years with unpaid work and was ordered to pay compensation.

Defence barrister Jane Foley said Tracey has stayed away from trouble since the suspended sentence was imposed and has found a new job.

Miss Foley added: "He is too frightened to return to his property and is awaiting a transfer on the tenancy list so he can move out of the area."

Judge Esmond Faulks sentenced Tracey to a community order with 12 months supervision and 100 hours unpaid work.

The judge said because Tracey pleaded guilty and had complied with the other requirements of the suspension he would not activate the suspended prison term.

But Judge Faulks added: "This was a pretty silly thing to do, you had a knife and if you had found them someone could have been injured - and it could have been you rather than them.

"You need to do a bit more thinking before you engage in this sort of activity. This is your last chance."

8:14pm Thursday 27th March 2008

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