A 45-YEAR-old man went to a shop at Abergele and told staff: "I have come to report a murder I have done."

Tony Simmonds claimed it happened on the beach and pulled a knife from his rucksack to show the two Premier store workers, magistrates at Llandudno were told on Wednesday.

Simmonds became emotional and then stated: "I’m going to go now,” prosecutor James Neary said. Police were alerted.

He pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in Marine Road, Pensarn, on December 29.

Mr Neary said: "He told police he couldn’t remember much about what had happened. He had been drinking.”

Simmonds said he had been sleeping rough and used the knife to help catch food.

“He told the police the knife wasn’t for his protection,” Mr Neary added.

Simmonds was “sectioned” at the Ablett psychiatric unit at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, the court heard.

Court chairwoman Susanne Dixon told him: "A custodial sentence for you is inappropriate. You can be given a more appropriate sentence by the crown court because they have powers to order psychiatric reports and different ways of dealing with you for this offence.” He will appear at Mold crown court on April 11.

Defence solicitor Alex Fitzgerald said it was never Simmonds’s intention to cause fear. “It was clearly a cry for help,” he said.