Police found a machete in a driver’s car boot – after he warned them they would discover something in there that would send him back to prison.
Unlicensed Curtis Cooper caught the attention of the officers after dropping off a driver’s licence belonging to somebody else at Dewsbury Police Station.
The bizarre incident unfolded as police followed the 34-year-old – who was accompanied by his mother – to Huddersfield shortly after 4am on October 16.
Prosecutor Andy Wills told Kirklees magistrates that the VW Golf was seen being driven in an erratic manner along Blackmoorfoot Road in Crosland Moor before stopping at a dead end in nearby George Street.
Mr Wills said: “He alighted from the vehicle and, not sure what was going to happen, the officers handcuffed him.
“He was invited into the police vehicle and told them: ‘I’m going back to prison for this.
“‘There’s something in that will send me back to prison. Go on, search it.’”
The officers searched the boot of the car and found a brown-handled machete wrapped inside a black bin bag.
Cooper, of Henley Croft in Dalton, pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a bladed article in public and driving without a licence or insurance.
In 2013 he was sentenced to three years in custody for an offence of wounding.
He appeared at the Huddersfield court in custody after missing his previous hearing on Friday.
Magistrates were told that he called police from a phone at the Mission cafe and told them to fetch him after reading that he was wanted in the Examiner.
Jonathan Slawinski, mitigating, described the circumstances of the case as highly unusual.
He said that his client, who suffers from mental health issues, had found a driving licence in possession of somebody else who it clearly didn’t belong to.
He said: “He took it upon himself to drive to Dewsbury Police Station as Huddersfield was closed at the time.
“It was not open and he posted it through the letter box, leading police to follow him in the car.
“He paid £20 for the machete and it was wrapped up in the boot, not tucked into his waistband.”
Mr Slawinski accepted that while magistrates may take “a dim view” of the offence, there was no dangerous circumstances to it.
He said: “It was tucked away in the boot and his mother was in the car with him.”
Magistrates sentenced Cooper to eight weeks in custody but suspended the sentence for a year.
They ordered the destruction of the machete and told him to pay £85 costs and £20 victim surcharge.
His licence will be endorsed with eight penalty points.
