Police also said there was no evidence the 18-year-old was connected with any gang.
The court heard that on the night of January 8 Allen was a back-seat passenger in a car police stopped in Nelson.
They subsequently searched him and found him in possession of a large knife, nunchucks he said were part of a Japanese tribute wall he had at home and a screwdriver in his jersey.
Nunchaku, otherwise known as nunchucks, are training weapons that originate from Japanese martial arts.
Allen claimed to have found the knife and screwdriver.
Judge Richard Russell noted Allen’s lack of previous offences and that the charge he faced carried a maximum of three years in prison.
The judge took Allen’s explanation “with a grain of salt” and that it was “highly suspicious” as to why he had the items he was found with.
“If you are found again with weapons like this within the next two years the presumption is, you will be going to jail.”
On a charge of possessing an offensive weapon, he was sentenced to 80 hours of community work.
Allen, who thanked the judge and called him “Sir” as he left the dock, will be allowed to take on basic work and living skills training as part of his community work sentence.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
