Drunken man caught with knife at Luas stop bought it ‘on special offer in Lidl’

Vadim Egorov (52) was found with the knife after gardaí were called because he was drinking on a tram in Dublin city centre.

Judge Bryan Smyth fined him €200 when he appeared in Dublin District.

Egorov, with an address at a city hostel, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a knife and public drunkenness.

Dublin District Court heard gardaí were called to a city centre Luas stop where security said Egorov had been on the tram without a ticket and was drinking vodka.

He was intoxicated and gardaí found a hunting knife in his jacket pocket and arrested him.

The accused had bought the knife on special offer in Lidl and was going to use it for fishing, his solicitor Donal Quigley said.

However, he was homeless and had nowhere else to leave it. It was in a pouch when gardaí found it but he accepted he was not fishing at the time.

Judge Smyth said he was going to “take a benign view” of the offence on this occasion but warned Egorov not to do it again.