A WORCESTER judge says he will send anyone carrying a knife "to prison every time".

District Judge Kevin Grego said the current publicity about people carrying these weapons highlighted what people working in court saw on a daily basis.

He was speaking in Worcester Magistrates Court as he presided over the case of Matthew Bendall, a heroin addict from Tolladine, who was caught with a three-inch blade in a city pub.

Judge Grego sentenced him to eight weeks in prison, plus another four weeks for jumping bail.

He said: "I'm concerned about people considering it acceptable to carry a knife. There's been a lot of publicity recently which casts light on what we see every day in court.

"It's a simple equation. Carry a knife and you'll go to prison, and people need to understand that whatever the purpose, if a knife is carried it is a weapon and people die. In my view, knife carrying is so serious that, in almost every case, nothing apart from custody is justified.

"I want the message to go out that people who carry knives will go to prison every time."

Bendall, aged 31, of Teme Road, was caught with a lock knife in Lloyds Bar, Crown Passage. He said he used it for cutting up cannabis.

Brian O'Connell, defending, said Bendall admitted to being a drug user but not to ever being violent.

He added: "It's quite clear the knife was used to cut up drugs."

Bendall admitted possessing a knife and failing to surrender to bail.

Following the heightened media awareness over the use of knives, shops in the city selling them said they are behaving responsibly.

The shop Durrants & Sons, of Mealcheapen Street, sells knives. A spokesman for the firm said they always followed the law.

He added: "We always ask for proof of age and proof that it is going to be used for the right reasons.

"The knives we sell here are too expensive for people who carry out these crimes. They can walk into any supermarket and buy a kitchen knife that will do just as much damage."

A Tesco spokeswoman said: "We sell homeware goods and have a Think 21 policy, whereby we ask for ID for anyone we think is aged between 16-21. We use our discretion if we think someone is buying a knife for the wrong reasons."