A TEEN had a sheriff chuckling at Alloa Sheriff Court last week – despite the fact he was facing sentencing for his second knife offence within 12 months.

Steven Brolly, 18, was in the dock on Thursday, April 11, having previously pleaded guilty to two charges.

On October last year, he was caught carrying a knife in a public place by police, and also found to be in possession of an ecstasy tablet.

At the time, officers had been carrying out enquiries into other matters, which led them to Brolly’s home address.

Before they arrived, the teen had tried to dispose of a jacket, and when police turned up he tried to make off on foot.

They eventually caught up with him and recovered his jacket, and he confessed there was a knife in the pocket, claiming: “It’s for my mum.”

During a previous appearance in court in November, a solicitor admitted that the offence was Brolly’s second conviction for carrying a knife that year.

Since then, he has also pled guilty to stealing from half a dozen vehicles in Menstrie during a crime spree in August.

That matter has since been dealt with, and sentencing for the knife and drug offences have been deferred until this month.

On Thursday, solicitor Kelly Howe said the teen had been making progress with a Community Payback Order (CPO) that he was currently on.

She then urged the sheriff to consider further deferring sentencing on the knife and drug charges to allow him to continue that progress.

She said: “There hasn’t been any further offending since October last year.”

However, Brolly then motioned for his solicitor to come over to him in the dock, and whispered in her ear.

Mrs Howe then laughed and told the court: “He is being very honest, there might be something from the weekend that might crop up.”

The comment provoked a chuckle from Sheriff David Mackie, who said he was aware of the progress the teen had been making with his community order.

He then further deferred sentencing for a period of six months, to allow Brolly, of Arran Court, Alloa, to continue completing his CPO.

The teen will be back in court for the knife and drug charges on October 10.