A MAN who was jailed after carrying a knife outside a supermarket has had his appeal dismissed.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard back in October 2020, officers from Essex Police received a telephone call from an off duty officer saying a man was in possession of a knife at Clacton’s Sainsbury.

An argument had broken out between a member of staff and a third party when Stephen Olliffe joined in and was found to be carrying a bladed article. He was challenged and taken into custody.

A few months later, in May 2021, Olliffe, 49, of Rookwood Close, Clacton, was once again in possession of a knife in a public place in Clacton and was found to be threatening another man.

Appearing at Colchester’s Magistrates’ Court this January, he denied the 2020 offence but was given 26 weeks imprisonment.

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He admitted to the May 2021 offence and was given a further 15 weeks in prison, both sentences to run consecutively.

Judge Timothy Walker dismissed Olliffe’s appeal and upheld the magistrates’ sentence.

He said: “The first situation where the police were called to a disturbance outside Sainsbury, the appellant joined in and the staff member saw him in possession of a knife and asked: ‘Is this a knife and the appellant said: ‘Yes, what are you going to do about it?’.

"He said what he meant was ‘How are you going to help me dispose of the knife?’

“Frankly that is an absurd suggestion and not one we accept.”

Olliffe has spent two months in prison so far.

His counsel, Mr Elliot Moulster, said: “He has been assigned a number of medication for liver failure.

“He has to have his body drained now and then and his body often starts to swell up.

“Since he has been in custody he has suffered bullying because of his physical health and appearance.

“He suffers from severe depression and anxiety with psychotic episodes.

“He advises me prison is not a drugs free environment but he has managed to resist any temptation. He is motivated to change.”