A 26-year-old man from Lye who was spotted carrying a knife on the busy Rowley Regis railway station has been locked up for six-and-a-half months.

Ryan Sheldon had the seven inch knife in his left hand and when police officers arrived on the scene they told him to drop the weapon.

The officers feared for their own safety and for that of people waiting to board trains, said Daniel Oscroft, prosecuting.

He told Wolverhampton Crown Court that in the end the officers had to disarm Sheldon forcibly and they managed to push him to the ground.

But he then kicked out and the officers had to use a baton to strike him on the legs to restrain him, added Mr Oscroft.

Sheldon, of Gibbs Road, admitted possessing an offensive weapon and Judge Mark Eades told him carrying knives in a public place was a serious issue.

He said Sheldon had a previous conviction involving a knife adding: “You did not actually use it but the members of the public knew you had it.”

Nicole Steers, defending, said Sheldon was a man who had drug problems and he had been suffering from anxiety and depression.