A man has been jailed for more than two years after pulling a machete-style knife from his backpack at Launceston’s Carols by Candlelight in front of thousands of people of all ages.
Daniel Gregory Woodward, 48, appeared in the Supreme Court of Tasmania after pleading guilty to being unlawfully armed in public and possessing a dangerous article in a public place.
Justice Robert Pearce sentenced him to two years and three months’ imprisonment, backdated to his arrest on December 21.
He will not be eligible for parole until he has served 18 months.
The court heard Woodward had been seated directly in front of the stage at City Park and was behaving erratically while live music was being performed.
Organisers called police, but before officers arrived, Woodward pulled out a knife just over 30 centimetres long, with a 20-centimetre blade and began brandishing it.
“In your central location right in front of the stage there were many members of the public near you who were alarmed and frightened,” Justice Pearce said.
A woman sitting beside him with her two children, aged five and eight, stood up, warned others nearby and moved away.
When police approached, Woodward reached for the handle of the knife inside his bag but was restrained before he could draw it.
He was also carrying a multi-tool knife and a small serrated kitchen knife.
Woodward, who has schizophrenia and a long history of substance abuse, had been using methylamphetamine in the lead-up to the offence.
The court heard he told a clinical psychologist he believed he needed the knives for his own protection.
“The inevitable result of the production and brandishing of a machete, or a machete style knife, in the centre of a crowd at a public event of that type was fear and panic,” Justice Pearce said.
The judge said the crime was the type that “shocks the public conscience” and required a strong sentencing response.
