A man has been fined after he told police he had 17 knives on him because he was practising his blade-throwing skills in the bush at Lake Macquarie.
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Toronto Local Court heard on Tuesday that John Bradley, 45, was charged after a group of young people saw him wandering bushland at Killingworth while heavily armed on the afternoon of November 19, 2023.
According to a statement of agreed facts, police found Bradley sitting in a Toyota sedan which contained 17 knives, a machete and a hatchet.
Bradley co-operated with police and told the officers he liked to put small targets on trees and practise throwing knives at them.
The court heard on Tuesday Bradley had been doing so "for some time".
Magistrate Peter Barnett, SC, said it "may be something you're allowed to do in the circus", but would have alarmed the young people who came across him heavily armed in the bush.
"There are just too many knives in the community," he said.
"Knives, in some ways, cause more injuries in the community than guns do. You don't have to load a knife, and they're available anywhere."
The court heard that NSW Parliament last year doubled penalties for possessing a knife in public from a $2200 to $4400 fine and the maximum jail term from two to four years.
Magistrate Barnett convicted Bradley and fined him $1500.
