A COURAGEOUS police officer seized a knife from a man in Shaftesbury who was wielding it in public.

The force received multiple calls of a man standing at the junctions of Maple Road and Mampitts Road at 12.50pm on May 15 where he was shouting while holding a knife.

When a member of the neighbourhood policing team attended the scene, the man put the knife on top of a sign.

While the man was distracted, the officer stepped in and seized the weapon.

Further officers arrived, and the man – 43-year-old Sebastian Stefan Allard of Reynolds Rise in Shaftesbury – was arrested.

READ MORE: Calls for café operators at upcoming Mampitts Community Hub in Shaftesbury

READ MORE: Concerns over trail hunting ‘misinformation’ spread at Gillingham & Shaftesbury show

He was later charged and appeared before Poole Magistrates’ Court where he was found guilty of possession of a knife blade or sharp pointed article in a public place.

Allard was sentenced at the same court on August 26 to nine months in prison.

He was also handed a one-month consecutive prison sentence for failing to surrender to bail at the appointed time.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: “We take reports of incidents involving a knife very seriously and thanks to the quick work of the neighbourhood policing team, we were able to remove a knife from the street without anyone being injured.“

Click here for more crime news from your New Blackmore Vale.