A MISSING dad caught with a knife down his trousers has been sentenced to two years behind bars.

Gordon Strang was snared by officers outside Glasgow’s Rennie Mackintosh Hotel in August this year.

The 36-year-old later bizarrely claimed that the wooden locking knife was for his job as a rough caster.

The dad-of-one had been out of work for up to 10 days having left his family behind without telling them.

Strang pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to the unlawful possession of a knife in a public place.

The court heard officers outside the hotel clocked Strang leave the hotel before turning back on himself.

Prosecutor Derek Buchanan added that a “metal or wooden handle” was sticking out of his trousers.

Strang tried to discard the locking blade as officers approached him.

Mr Buchanan said: “He told officers that it was for his work as a rough caster but hotel staff said that this was untrue.”

He was then arrested and held in custody.

Jack Brown, defending, said: “Before the incident his family contacted my office about Mr Strang’s whereabouts.

“He had left without any explanation and this was a situation that had happened before.

“He is a rough caster and for a week to 10 days he wasn’t working and he was moving around sleeping rough and living in accommodation.

“He tells me he felt a

build-up of pressure at home which sometimes happened

and he left.

“He has a drinking problem and was taking Valium.”

Sheriff Paul Crozier told

Strang, who has four identical previous convictions, as well as a record for assaults and robberies, that prison was the only way to deal with him.