Carrying scissors in the waistband of his jeans, for his own protection, saw Darren Devlin jailed for 160 days.
When police searched the 22-year-old, he confessed he had the scissors to “scare off” any would-be attacker, having allegedly had a knife held to his throat the previous day.
Devlin, of Larchbank Street, Galashiels, admitted having an offensive weapon, a pair of scissors, at Meigle Street, Galashiels, on May 26.
“Police had cause to detain him and as part of the procedure, he was searched,” explained depute fiscal Tessa Bradley.
“They found a pair of scissors with a three-inch cutting edge in the waistband of his jeans,” she continued.
“He said that the previous night, a blade was held to his throat and they had threatened to slash him, so he took the scissors for his protection.
“He said he had had them in his waistband for the whole day, and was searched at 1.20am on a Saturday morning,” she concluded.
At an earlier hearing, solicitor Ed Hulme, defending, said his client had “panicked” when he left the house.
“He saw the scissors and took them with him, planning to bring them out to try to scare this person, if a knife was produced again.
“He didn’t intend using them in any other way,” added Mr Hulme.
On Monday, solicitor Iain Burke, representing Devlin, said his client was currently serving a 12-month custodial sentence for another matter.
“He has spent three weeks in custody in relation to this matter,” added Mr Burke.
Sheriff Kevin Drummond told Devlin: “You were on bail for an allegation of assault and are found in the street in possession of a pair of scissors, said to be carried for your own protection.
“Having regard to the nature of the offence, and your record, this requires to be dealt with by custody,” he concluded.