chop shop Drunken man who threatened gardai carried a knife 'to chop salami for his lunch'

A CHIP shop worker found with a knife in his pocket after shouting threats at gardaí claimed he had it to "chop salami for his lunch".

Asen Asenov (34) was drunk and told gardaí he would kill them before the knife was found on him, Dublin District Court heard.

Fining him, Judge Bryan Smyth said he was "not entirely convinced" by the explanation.

Asenov, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a knife, as well as public intoxication and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.

Gardaí were called to the Abbey Court Hostel on Bachelor's Walk, Dublin, last September 2.

The court heard Asenov was intoxicated outside the hostel and cursed at gardaí, threatening "keep your hands off me or I'll f**king kill you".

When arrested, a knife was found in his jacket pocket and he had no reasonable explanation for having it.

Asenov, who had a drink problem, had been so intoxicated he was unable to stand and at no time were gardaí in fear he would use the knife, his solicitor John Feaheny told the court.

The accused had the knife for "chopping salami for his lunch and he was never going to use it for anything else".

"It doesn't seem to me like it's a particularly plausible explanation," the judge said.

Asenov was a polyglot but his level of English was basic.

Judge Smyth fined him €200 for the knife charge and another €200 for shoplifting a jacket in a separate incident.