Rockingham: Man fined after carrying machete onto property police were searching

A MAN who wandered into a property while it was being searched by police told them it was because he wanted to sharpen a knife.

Wayne Michael Harrison was charged with carried an article with intent to cause fear and knowingly possessed counterfeit money.

He was convicted in his absence at Rockingham Magistrates Court on January 23.

The prosecutor said police were conducting a search on a home in Parmelia on December 8, 2016 when Harrison wandered into the front of the property.

Police asked him what he was doing and began to search him.

Police found a meat cleaver in the top of his pants and a counterfeit $50 note in his top pocket.

They said he told them he was there ‘looking to sharpen a knife so he could flog it off’ and that he knew the money was fake.

Magistrate Michael Wheeler said Harrison risked his own safety.

“It’s a very dangerous occupation to be putting meat cleavers down your pants,” he said.

He fined him a total of $1050.