A man was caught with wraps of heroin hidden in his sock and carrying a knife, a court heard.

Keith Joseph Airey, of Selwyn Close in Weymouth, was found with 30 wraps of heroin, a quantity of cannabis and a pocket knife in his possession after being stopped-and-searched by police, Weymouth Magistrates Court heard.

Elizabeth Valera, prosecuting, said police were on patrol at 1.15pm on December 16 2017 when they stopped a vehicle with Airey and his friend inside.

Airey, 36, got out "hastily" and started walking off but police kept him at the scene. After dealing with his friend, officers searched Airey and found a pocket knife. They also found 30 wraps of heroin, 25 of which were in his left sock, and cannabis in his left pocket.

He told police he'd used the pocket knife to help a friend lay a carpet a few days before and had forgotten about it.

Simon Lacey, mitigating, said: "All the evidence has been agreed.

"He was going through a bad patch and seemed to regress into some drug misuse. Since then he has sorted himself out quite considerably. He has pleaded guilty on a very limited basis."

Airey was convicted of one count of possession of a class A drug, one count of possession of a class B drug and one count of possession of a bladed article.

Sentencing Airey, chairman of the bench Judith Boichot said: "You are aware that having a knife is regarded as extremely serious.

"You could well be going to prison today or at least having a suspended sentence, but we're going to go with the suggestion of a community order for 12 months. As part of that there's a requirement for 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirement and anything that probation feel is necessary for you."

As well as the community order, Airey was told to pay fines, costs and charges totalling £210.

The knife and drugs were forfeited and destroyed.