A homeless man who was seen with a machete in Ipswich town centre on one of the busiest Christmas shopping days of the year has been jailed for six months.
Sentencing Vamps Fountain at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge David Goodin described the machete as a “big, ugly weapon which could cause a lot of damage if it was misused”.
Fountain, 41, of no fixed address, admitted possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
The court heard he had a previous conviction for having an article with a blade in 1995.
Peter Gair, prosecuting, said that on Saturday December 22, which was the last shopping Saturday before Christmas, shoppers saw Fountain in Foundation Street and the Cattle Market bus station with the machete.
One man saw the machete drop out of Fountain’s clothing and called the police.
Another man, who was in the Cattle Market at 3.40pm, saw the handle of the machete protruding from Fountain’s jacket and when he approached Fountain the defendant told him: “Go away or I’ll do you.”
The man ran into a nearby shop and asked staff to call the police.
Kelly Fernandez-Lee, for Fountain, said her client hadn’t brandished the machete.
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