Drunken man armed with building tool is told by judge to kick booze habit

The father of Liam Goodwin was so concerned about his son's agitated and intoxicated state when he left his home in the early hours of December 22 last year, that he called the police.

The man thought Goodwin had taken a kitchen knife with him, after saying he was "going to do in his ex partner" after arguing with her on the phone, prosecutor Louise Pryke told Leeds Crown Court.

Goodwin, 21, was found on Cemetery Road in Normanton a short time later.

Officers were so concerned for his mental state they detained him. After searching his jacket they found a line pin, a metal tool for laying bricks, in his zipped pocket. They did not find a knife.

He admitted a charge of possessing an bladed or sharpened weapon, but the Crown accepted he had no knowledge of it being in his pocket, and that he had left it in there after working a few days prior.

A probation stand-down report was read to the court which found that Goodwin was currently unemployed, but was drinking up to 10 cans or pints of lager a day. He was even hospitalised after one heavy drinking session.

Goodwin, of Eastbourne Terrace, Pontefract, was told by the judge, Recorder Catherine Silverton, that he "clearly has a problem with alcohol".

She gave him an 18-month community order, with six months' alcohol treatment programme.