A TEENAGER who was prosecuted for carrying a machete on a residential street in Kendal wept as a judge remanded him custody.

Coban Cleaver, 19, previously denied the offence, which he committed on March 24 at Oxenholme Road, Kendal, but he entered a guilty plea on the day his trial was due to begin at Carlisle Crown Court.

When the court clerk asked him to enter his plea, the teenager paused for five seconds before uttering the word guilty.

Because he has a previous similar offence on his record, he is at risk of a minimum six-month jail term for the offence. This can be avoided only when there are what a judge rules are "exceptional" circumstances.

His defence barrister Andrew Evans told Judge Michael Fanning that Cleaver was in a “very emotional state” and that he had previously been diagnosed with “attachment disorder” as a result of the way he was treated while in care.

“He was separated from his parents at a very young age,” said the barrister. During earlier legal discussions, Mr Evans said Cleaver was simply walking around Kendal with the machete in his bag. It was not used in any crime.

Before entering his guilty plea, Cleaver claimed he had the blade because he had been working as a tree surgeon.

But prosecutor Brendan Burke said the teenager was unable to support that claim by producing any certificates or work history.

The court heard that magistrates in Barrow had issued an arrest warrant for Cleaver after he failed to turn up for a scheduled hearing.

Mr Evans said Cleaver failed to turn up for court because he felt “under threat”. From the dock of the court, Cleaver said was warned not to attend a probation service appointment in his hometown of Blackpool because of a danger to his safety.

Judge Fanning noted that the defendant is a care leaver.

“I am reluctant to consign you to any period of custody without a report,” said the judge. A mandatory jail term may not be inevitable, observed the judge. “I simply don’t know enough about you, and whether your position is exceptional.

“It may be. That is why I need a report.”

He noted that there was a "degree to which" the defendant had brought on the situation he was now in. The only way he could ensure getting a background report, said Judge Fanning, was to remand Cleaver in custody so he knew where he was.

He remanded Cleaver, of Park Road, Blackpool, in custody and will pass sentence on Wednesday, October 2, after the report has been prepared.