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A crack addict caught with a knife claimed it was for cleaning his toenails.

Martin Cummins, 62, was arrested when targeting pay and display ticket machines at a Liverpool city centre car park.

As well as using the knife to “clean his toe nails”, he also said he used it to scrape dead skin off his feet, while claiming a bolt and screws he was carrying were to clean his crack pipe.

Officers spotted him acting suspiciously in Crown Street, Edge Hill at around 10am on September 27 this year.

Liverpool Crown Court heard he was walking across a car park and was detained on suspicion of going equipped for theft.

Cummins, of no fixed abode, was found to have a Stanley knife, plus bolts and screws and a small amount of cannabis.

When asked about the knife, he told officers: “I use it to clean my toenails – the nails are dead thick right – and scraping the dead skin off my feet.”

Police previously caught Cummins repeatedly hitting a pay and display machine in Kempson Street, Islington.

He admitted attempted theft and was handed six weeks in prison, suspended for six months, following the incident on July 6 this year.

Mike Stephenson, prosecuting, said Cummins was also carrying a bolt and screws on that occasion.

He explained he used the bolt to ram into the machines to get money out and the screws were for cleaning under his nails.

Cummins admitted possession of a knife, going equipped for theft and possession of cannabis.

He previously admitted knife possession in 2001, meaning he faced a minimum sentence of six months in prison for his second offence of this type.

Alaric Walmsley, defending, said his remorseful client now accepted his explanation was not a good reason for carrying a knife in public.

He said a theft did not actually take place and urged Judge Anil Murray to impose a short sentence.

Judge Anil Murray said Cummins had a very lengthy record for dishonesty and his previous knife crime meant a custodial sentence was inevitable.

He jailed the drug addict for eight months.