WA nurse dodges jail after slashing guard

An unemployed registered nurse who injured a transit officer with a steak knife during a scuffle after drunkenly trespassing on train tracks has been spared an immediate jail term.

Stephen Dean Johnston was at the Claisebrook train station in East Perth in January 2019 when he climbed down from the platform to the track level and entered a restricted area, prompting Public Transport Authority officers to call out.

The 59-year-old didn't respond, later claiming he didn't hear them, and when one of the officers grabbed hold of him, he pulled the knife from his pants pocket which led to a struggle.

The knife cut the victim's forearm, causing a superficial laceration resulting in some bleeding, the District Court of WA heard on Wednesday.

Johnston was ultimately overpowered, arrested and charged with assaulting a public officer while armed with a dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years.

He pleaded guilty, claiming he had the knife on him because he was taking it home from a barbecue, but also alluded to self protection in light of stabbings around CBD train stations.

"The flavour of the reports that I have now read suggest that you continue to minimise your responsibility and suggest the transit worker was accidentally injured when you attempted to throw the knife away," Judge Belinda Lonsdale said.

"That's not something that I can readily accept."

The court heard he had been a "functioning alcoholic" but was undergoing treatment, which Judge Lonsdale said was positive.

She said he had good prospects for employment, especially in light of the demand for nurses during the coronavirus crisis.

Johnston was sentenced to a 12 month intensive supervision order, which requires him to undergo programs and counselling.