A POWYS man who set out to give two others he believed had burgled his house “a good hiding” has been jailed after admitting being in possession of a knife.

Karl Thomas Evans picked up a kitchen knife he’d found in a recycling bin outside his Llandrindod Wells home on March 13 this year on his way to confront two former associates he believed had burgled his house and stolen drugs from him.

However, he then hid the knife in a hedge when he spotted police cars outside. But, rather than leave the scene, Evans, 38, told officers about the knife and he was arrested.

Magistrates sitting in Llandrindod on Wednesday, May 25, activated a suspended prison sentence Evans had been given last August and gave him an additional prison term because it was his second offence of carrying a knife within the last two years. Evans was jailed for nine months.

Evans, of Trefonen Avenue, Llandrindod, had been due to stand trial on Wednesday after initially denying possessing a bladed article, but he decided to change his plea on the day.

Prosecutor Stephen Davies said that police had been to Trefonen Avenue on March 13 to speak to Evans on an unrelated matter.

“He told an officer ‘I’m going to be honest, I had a knife with me in case I saw them’," said Mr Davies.

"He said as soon as he saw police, he hid it in a hedge.

“The defendant walked down a footpath with the officer, the knife was spotted and recovered. It was a kitchen knife, with a 3” long blade.

“He said that two associates had burgled his house and taken drugs from his property. He knew they were at a hotel in town, he had rang to confirm they were there, then he set off unarmed ‘to give them a good hiding’."

He then found the knife, but subsequently ditched it in the hedge, he said.

Mr Davies said Evans had a record showing 33 convictions for 53 offences, including a suspended 26-week prison sentence handed down last August for battery. The previous knife conviction was from December 2020, for which Evans had received a three-month prison term, suspended for a year.

Gareth Walters, acting for Evans, said: “The basis of changing his plea is that he says he left the house unarmed, he was going to see these people who he believed had stolen from him.

“He found the knife on the floor by the recycling bin. He picked it up, thought what he’d do with it then put it in the hedge, that was how the offence has been committed.

“It is only his own actions that have led him here today.”

Mr Walters added: “He has gained qualifications in maths, English and IT. He is trying to use his time wisely yet finds himself in a very precarious position.

“Mr Evans left school at 15 so to gain qualifications at 38 is a big step. He had ambitions to become a pastry chef but he got hooked on heroin. He has been off it now three years, is engaging with Kaleidoscope and training currently to become a mentor."

Chair of the bench, Angela George, told Evans: “You have made improvements to your life but this was a second offence of carrying a knife and a second offence of a bladed article.”

They activated the suspended sentence previously in place, but reduced the period Evans has to serve from 26 weeks to 20; but they also ordered him to serve a consecutive six-month term for the new offence.

He will have to pay a £128 surcharge on his release.