Blades of glory

OAP TAKES AXE-THROWING WORLD BY STORM

- BY ELIZABETH HUNTER

A 70-YEAR-OLD knife and axe thrower is set to compete in the world championship after teaching himself the sport in his garden.

Derek Hutchison developed his interest after retiring from his job as a council trading standards official at 62.

After watching other knife-throwers online, Derek set up a practice range in his back garden and taught himself.

As lockdown hit, Derek spent several hours a day practising, building a 30ft range to sharpen his skills.

Now, Derek, from Scone, Perthshire, is one of just 12 people travelling to Las Vegas for the International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame World Championships in September.

He said: "When I retired, I was looking around for things to do, and I found a little clip of knife-throwing online.