A MORECAMBE biker has been jailed after he terrified two Japanese train passengers by pulling an axe out of his trousers.

Former engineer Jeffrey Hayton said the decorated axe was a wedding present for a friend in the Slaves of Satan Hell's Angel biker group and he had only taken the axe out of his trousers because it was uncomfortable when he sat down.

Hayton, 34, painted various motifs on the blade, including a skull and crossbones, a Holy Cross, a Capricorn sign and his signature.

He was taking the axe home by train to add a dash of red paint when he was arrested by police after a rail passenger complained.

Hayton of Westminster Road was found guilty of possessing an article with a blade in public without lawful excuse. Prosecutor David Dunk told magistrates at Kendal, Cumbria, that Hayton was seen with the 18-inch long axe in a waiting room at Oxenholme railway station.

In front of two Japanese tourists he sat down and pulled the axe from the back of his trousers and placed it on a bench. Leather-jacketed Hayton then caught a train to Lancaster and put the axe on a pull-down table in front of him. A passenger rang the police on his mobile and Hayton was later arrested with the axe as he came out of a pub in nearby Carnforth.

When interviewed by police he did not agree that carrying the axe in public was threatening. He said: "It was down my back but it got awkward when I sat down." The axe was so uncomfortable he took it out of his trousers but had no intention of using it. He told police it was a gift for a Hells Angel friend, Davey, who was getting married in a bikers' ceremony two weeks later. His solicitor Stuart Barton had argued at Hayton's trial that although it was unusual to give an axe as a wedding present, it was not an offence. He had a good reason for carrying it. But the magistrates found the case proven.

Mr Barton said Hayton had gone to collect the axe from his parents' shed in Kendal. He had not used it offensively and had not threatened anyone with it. He had worked for many years as an engineer but suffered from depression which wrecked his marriage. "He lost his job, hit skid-row and has been bombing up and down ever since," said Mr Barton. The court heard Hayton had two previous convictions for possessing blades in public. In addition, he admitted two offences of threatening behaviour, failing to answer bail and theft of £10 on other occasions.

The magistrates jailed Hayton for four months. Bench chairman, Diana Matthews, told him: "You had a weapon in public and caused fear to members of the public."