A man who walked up to a stranger and asked him for a cigarette was holding a knife, a court heard.

Scott Brodie claimed that the knife was for his own protection after he was threatened while crossing a bridge.

Kirklees Magistrates’ Court heard that Brodie - disabled following a car crash as a teenager - had a problem with drink and drugs.

Brodie, of Whitehead Lane, Newsome, pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in public during a previous hearing.

The incident happened at Huddersfield Bus Station on August 23.

Brodie walked up to another man and asked him for a cigarette.

The 25-year-old was carrying a large kitchen knife and the man alerted police.

Prosecutor Vanessa Jones said: “CCTV then located him in Huddersfield Bus Station and when police attended the knife was in a bag.

“In interview he said it was for his own protection. He said he was crossing a bridge in Newsome and saw a man who threatened him.

“Mr Brodie said this was to with something that happened a couple of years ago in relation to a gun found in Honley.”

Brodie also admitted breaching a restraining order banning him on contacting his former partner.

The court heard that he went to her Honley home and discovered that she was pregnant with another man’s child.

Sonia Kidd, mitigating, told the court: “This is a young man with difficulties.

“He was involved in a serious road accident when he was 15 and his disabilities emanate from that and his consequential thinking is not the same as everybody else’s.”

Mrs Kidd added that Brodie had no intention of using the knife and had difficulty comprehending why anyone would feel scared by it.

She told the court that he went round to see his ex because he had not seen his daughter since his relationship broke down four years ago.

District Judge Michael Fanning deferred sentencing him until November 16.

In the meantime Brodie must not reoffend and has to cooperate with an assessment for treatment.