“Bullied” autistic Chesterfield teen took overdose in fear of jail after craft knife arrest

Parick Coughlin, 18, had to be rushed to hospital after overdosing in fear that he would be jailed for the offence.

The teenager’s mother described how he told her “mum, I can’t go to prison - they’ll hurt me” after he was taken to A&E.

She told Chesterfield Magistrates Court the youngster had been bullied throughout his teenage years - both at high school and around his family’s local neighbourhood.

The tearful mum said: “His first day at big school he was really excited but he head his head bounded off a post by some Year 9s - after that he wouldn’t go to school properly.

“He can’t even go to the local shops without being chased - he’s scared to go anywhere.”

A prosecutor described how on November 19 a member of the public called police reporting a male with a knife at Ravenside Retail Park.

By the time Coughlin was arrested he had already dropped the blade, telling police he was carrying it for his own protection.

In the Uk the starting point in terms of sentence for carrying a knife in a public place is six months custody.

However Coughlin’s solicitor Steve Brint said his client was “an extremely vulnerable young man”.

He said: “He is a young man who had been bullied most of his life and assaulted numerous occasions.

“Someone has told him if you’re bullied you should carry a knife and that will frighten them away.”

Coughlin, who had never been before the courts before, admitted possessing a knife in a public place.

A magistrate told him: “We know what the guidelines are but you’re not going to prison - we understand your issues and have a great deal of sympathy for the position you find yourself in.

“We have taken account of your vulnerability and your autism and can step outside of the guidelines.”

The defendant, of North Side, New Tupton, was handed a £120 fine, £85 court costs and £48 victim surcharge.