Police who arrested a 43-year-old man for shoplifting discovered he was carrying a Stanley knife.
Robert Gareth Evans, of John Street, Llangollen , told officers it was for cutting up his crack cocaine, a weekend magistrates court at Llandudno heard.
Evans pleaded guilty to having a bladed article and two charges of stealing bottles of whisky worth £174 from two stores at Dolgellau. He also admitted being in breach of a community order.
Diane Williams, prosecuting, said four bottles worth £64 had been recovered. Evans had 108 previous convictions for theft.
Stephen Edwards, defending, said Evans had relapsed back into a drugs habit this year. The whisky had been stolen so that it could be sold to obtain money for drugs.
He added: “He is not a young man who would arm himself and go out with a weapon. It’s connected with his drug abuse.
“What he needs is to be given help and support and to get ‘scripted’. In the current climate anyone in possession of a blade or weapon runs the risk of going straight into custody.”
Mr Edwards suggested a suspended sentence and maybe a drug rehabilitation requirement might be an appropriate outcome.
Evans was bailed to appear before magistrates at Caernarfon this week so there could be a probation report. A condition of bail is that he does not enter any shops.
