A ROBOTICS student told a security guard he had a knife outside a nightclub “because he lived in Greenstead.”

Jakub Krzykala was outside the Sub Zero venue at Essex University in the early hours of the morning at closing time when he was heard by a security officer saying ‘look what I’ve got.’

When confronted he handed over a three inch knife with a locking mechanism and said he had the blade because he lived on the estate.

Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard Krzykala, of Tangerine Close, Colchester, did not remember making that excuse and had actually purchased the knife because a university project required him to build a robot which burst balloons remotely.

He had left it at a friends and had been at that address earlier in the evening and picked up the blade before heading to the club after attending a party and forgetting it was there.

Kryzkala, 22, admitted possession of a bladed article.

The conviction means plans to travel to the USA and study for a masters degree have been shelved because he is unlikely to be able to obtain a visa.

Mark Pearson, mitigating said: “He went into his pockets looking for his earphones.

“Then he gets the knife out and says in a stupid way ‘look what I’ve got.’

“He is aware of the danger of knife crime and the need to stamp down on it but he is not the sort of person Parliament expected to fall foul.”

The probation service raised concerns Kryzkala did not understand the gravity of the situation but he insisted he did know he could easily have faced a jail sentence.

He said: “I am never going to do anything like it again.”

Chairman of the bench Martin Stuchfield said it was the stupidest decision Kryzkala had ever made.

But magistrates stopped short of handing him a custodial sentence.

The student, who also has a job as a waiter in Italian chain restaurant Zizi, will do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £175 in court charges.

Mr Stuchfield said: “So many people are killed as a result of people carrying knives.

“You are hard working and have ambition and now at 22 you find yourself with a criminal record for an aberration - it is heartbreaking.

“It is the most stupid thing you have ever done.”

He said the bench felt the exceptional circumstances meant they were able to not impose custody.

The knife will now be destroyed.