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Drunken man found with knife on street said he used it to cut birthday cake

The judge remarked that the accused’s birth date was different on his charge but his defence solicitor said the date on the charge sheet was wrong.

Today at 08:30

​A drunken man caught with a bread knife on a city street maintained he had just come from his own 40th birthday party where he had used it to cut the cake.

Michael Carlyle, a father of three and out-of-work chef, had drunk too much at his party and still had the knife on him when gardaí found him stumbling down the street. Fining him €150, Judge Michele Finan said it was a “serious weapon to have on the street while intoxicated to such a state”.

Carlyle, of Lansdowne Valley Crescent, Drimnagh, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a knife.

Dublin District Court heard gardaí found Carlyle stumbling drunk down Reuben Street in Rialto on January 21, waving a bottle of whiskey. He was stopped and found in possession of a bread knife.

Defence solicitor Aoife McNicholl said Carlyle had been cutting his birthday cake and that was why he had the knife.

He accepted he drank too much celebrating his birthday and still had the knife on him when gardaí stopped him.

A garda said the accused was arrested at 6.15am so “I don’t know what time the party was at”.

The judge remarked that the accused’s birth date was different on his charge but Ms McNicholl said the date on the charge sheet was wrong.

Carlyle had worked as a chef but had stopped working due to an injury, the court heard.

The judge warned the accused that he was at an age where this type of behaviour was not acceptable.

She gave him a year to pay the fine.​