A MAN who was repeatedly caught with blades on the streets of Clydebank has been told he’d be dead if he hadn’t been arrested.

Andrew Devenney, 21, has now been locked up for years after attempts to curb his ways in the community failed.

Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to having the blades hidden in his boxers in January. But those charges followed previous ones from 2019 where he also had a weapon in the streets and made threats to others.

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week, Devenney, previously of Melbourne Avenue, was told it was in his own best interests that he was arrested this year.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry told him: “The irony is if you had not been taken into custody for this matter, you would have died before now one way or another.”

Police saw Devenney unsteady on his feet on January 15 in Park Road, Clydebank. When they checked on him, Devenney kept his hands in his pockets, prompting a search.

Officers pulled his hands out and found two knives in his boxer shorts and a Stanley knife blade.

Devenney then twice gave false details about himself, claiming to be a resident of Drumchapel but actually living in Heather Avenue, Alexandria, before he was released.

The next day, Devenney was stopped in Union Street, Glasgow, and was seen fidgeting with his groin area. Police found a pair of nail scissors. The spring had been removed, adapting it into a weapon.

In April, he pleaded guilty to three charges of having weapons and two of providing false details.

At court on Friday, his solicitor, Phil Lafferty admitted there was not much that could be said in mitigation for his client.

He said: “I don’t intend to minimise these offences. From the outset he fully expects a custodial sentence and is wise enough to know it will be a significant sentence.

“There is almost a sense of relief that his utterly chaotic life might have some measure of stability.”

Last year Devenney admitted chasing a complete stranger through the streets of Dalmuir with a knife.

The man and a female companion were walking along a footpath on Mountblow Road in the early evening of March 25, 2019.

Devenney was heard shouting “YAASS” as he pulled a knife from his trousers before chasing his victim along Mountblow Road, Lilac Avenue and Laurel Avenue.

At the time Sheriff Hendry, noting Devenney had already spent a significant amount of time in custody, gave him a community payback order. He was put under supervision of social workers for two years and given the maximum of 300 hours of unpaid work. He also had a curfew for four months.

Devenney later broke that CPO and has now been jailed for the 2019 offences as well.

In total, Devenney will be locked up for 40 months, backdated to January 18.

After he’s let out, he will be supervised for 12 months as a “safety net”, said Sheriff Hendry.