A father has been spared prison having gone out armed with a taser and a knife after a call for help from his daughter.
Jamie Marsh, 36, of Westbourne Gardens, Hove, and Firle Road, Brighton, admitted having the weapons on him when he was stopped and searched in Coldean in the early hours of the morning.
Marsh, who runs a drainage and plumbing business, also pleaded guilty to having cocaine when he appeared at Hove Crown Court yesterday (Thursday 7 April).
Alec Williams, prosecuting, said that police were called to a disturbance in Rushlake Road, Coldean, just after 2.30am on Friday 17 September last year.
Mr Williams said: “They made a sweep of the area and they spotted the defendant. He was challenged and searched.
“There was a background of an incident which triggered the call to the police but there is no suggestion that he was involved in that dispute.”
Marsh’s counsel Philip Meredith said: “Mr Marsh regrets his lack of proper thinking in relation to this incident.
“He takes his family very seriously. His daughter was the one he was looking to protect that day.”
Marsh was philanthropic, Mr Meredith said. He’d taken on an apprentice at work and, the barrister added: “He cares about his family and looking after people.
“He was walking away from the scene (when the police spotted him). He didn’t have these weapons in his hand. There is no evidence that they were produced, let alone used.”
But the judge, Mr Recorder Ben Collins, said that Marsh had told a probation officer that “anyone would have done the same in the circumstances”.
Mr Recorder Collins said: “I’m sentencing him for arming himself before going out in public.
“There’s a difference between being on the streets with these items and having armed yourself with them because of a concern that your daughter has raised.”
The judge told Marsh: “Your daughter had called, concerned that she was being threatened. If you turn up to a disturbance armed with serious and unpleasant weapons like this, it’s a matter of luck that you don’t make the situation worse.
“Going armed like that risks causing an escalation. Your lack of understanding of the risks of your actions is of concern to me.”
The judge said that, with his mental health and substance abuse problems, he had placed his family at greater risk by taking a knife and stun gun with him.
He added: “There are people who depend on you and you are letting them down.”
The court was told that Marsh had 12 previous convictions for 29 offences, mostly driving matters.
And the judge said that he could have faced up to 10 years in prison for his latest crimes.
He imposed a community sentence for having the weapons, ordering Marsh to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months and attend 20 days of rehabilitation sessions.
Marsh was also fined £200 for having cocaine and ordered to pay £250 prosecution costs and a £95 victim surcharge, making £545 in all.
The judge ordered Marsh to forfeit the stun gun, punch knife and drugs and and said that they should be destroyed.
