A DUNFERMLINE man has been jailed for six months after he went to a petrol station with a kitchen knife hidden in his sock.

Mark Howe, 52, of Beath View, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that on September 2, at BP Filling Station, Bothwell Street, he was unlawfully in possession of a knife.

Depute fiscal Azrah Yousaf said that at 5.50pm, a female customer at the service station saw Howe staggering into the shop and felt he was behaving strangely.

Inside the shop, she saw that there was a black knife handle sticking out under the bottom of his jeans.

Police were called and searched Howe, finding the knife in his sock.

Defence solicitor James Moncrieff said his client had been using the knife in his house and put it in his sock because it wouldn’t fit in his pocket.

Sheriff Charles Macnair was unimpressed by Howe’s changing story.

He commented: “I was originally told it was when you saw the police that you put the knife in your sock but the woman had seen it there earlier. What you said was a lie.”