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Somebody, cut him a break. And this time, with a metal utensil.

Granted, Sidney Lowe II did get a private room at the county hotel, befitting the son of an N.C. State basketball coach. Still, he was “scared out of his mind,” his lawyers said.

So, it’s understandable why Lowe, 23, used a plastic spoon and metal scraps to fashion the knife that Greensboro jailers found in his cell, defense attorneys told News & Record court reporter Jennifer Fernandez this week.

This shocking development came one week after a judge sentenced Lowe to 15 months on the minimum-security county prison farm for a string of felonies including a drug-related shooting at UNCG, crimes Lowe blamed on the influence of the N.C. A&T campus, where he was enrolled.

Now, putting aside, for a moment, the question of how well the plastic spoon would work as a “shank” with which to “shiv” another inmate, as it’s known in jailhouse parlance, it’s fair to ask what comes next for this star-crossed victim of circumstance.

First, the defense conceded in testimony at Lowe’s sentencing, the parents made the misguided decision to send their sheltered son to a state university instead of a private school, where he might have felt more at home. (And where, presumably, there would be silver spoons.)

Instead, the Wolfpack coach’s son found himself at A&T, and everyone knows what a scary place that is. The marching band. Homecoming. The caf. Why, it’s enough to make a person ... well, you know. Take Ecstasy, deal marijuana, plan a home invasion and drive to a dorm at UNCG with an assault rifle.

The important thing was that Lowe, a first-time offender, took responsibility. Sort of like when George Washington chopped down the cherry tree.

Superior Court Judge Henry Frye Jr. therefore bowed to the Lowe family’s plea for leniency. Instead of the 23 years he could have received on the multiple felony counts, he got 11 years suspended and was ordered to serve an active term of 15 months at the prison farm in Gibsonville.

Unfortunately, there was a little stopover at the county detention center, where Sheriff BJ Barnes had Lowe housed in an individual cell because of his “notoriety,” as Barnes put it. And just as Lowe was frightened by the rough-and-tumble atmosphere of a large state university campus, he was scared. Scared enough to arm himself, though he didn’t have occasion to use it.

And once again, he told the truth.

“He did not try to hide (the knife) from the jailers,” his attorneys said in a written statement. “We are sure he will soon earn Sheriff Barnes’ confidence and will be sent to the county farm to finish serving his sentence.”

Barnes, unfairly it seems, was initially reluctant to house Lowe at the farm, seeing as minimum-security inmates there are typically serving sentences for such nonviolent offenses as drunken driving or failure to pay child support.

But the more important question is whether Lowe will feel at home at the farm, an 800-acre compound where inmates move about freely and sleep in dorms, as on a college campus.

What if, as Lowe said of the A&T campus, that’s more freedom than he’s ready for? What if he doesn’t fit in or make friends?

And there’s the whole security question. Lowe might not feel comfortable among the prison farm inmates. They probably eat off Styrofoam plates and have to do chores.

There are just so many unknowns, it doesn’t seem like a wise placement on the part of the court.

And if something goes awry, if Lowe can’t adjust to his surroundings and acts out as a result, we’ll only have society to blame.

Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or lorraine.ahearn@news-record.com