A Fife man told a court he had carried a knuckleduster for more than 20 years after being stabbed.

That led to a fine for 44-year-old Joseph Greenlees, of Ballingry Crescent in Ballingry, after police spotted the weapon when they stopped the car he was driving.

Greenlees appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court and represented himself having previously admitted his guilt by letter.

He admitted that on 17th May at Birchbank, Cowdenbeath, he was unlawfully in possession of an offensive weapon, a knuckleduster.

Depute fiscal Catherine Stevenson said at around midnight, police stopped a car being driven by Greenlees and saw the knuckleduster on the passenger seat.

He told the court. “It was mine. I always carried it since I was stabbed in 2004 but I never used it.”

When Sheriff Krista Johnston asked if he still had it, Greenlees replied: “I got it taken off me. Any chance of getting it back?”

“No, it’s against the law,” said the sheriff who then granted a Crown motion for forfeiture of the weapon.

Greenlees was also fined £210.