The accused was convicted after trial of two counts of assault and two counts of assault with a weapon arising from an incident where he approached two young women fundraising for charity, mistakenly believing one had stolen money from him.
He grabbed one by the wrist and brandished a knife.
Subsequently, while on bail pending sentencing, he was arrested carrying a concealed 12-inch knife and pleaded guilty to breaching a no-weapons recognizance and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
The sentencing judge imposed a custodial sentence of six and a half months, taking into account the accused's paranoid schizophrenia and its causal connection to the offences, while balancing the need for denunciation and protection of the public.
