Thug would rather have ‘drugs than a partner’
MAN ‘OUT OF IT’ ON DRUGS PULLED OUT A KNIFE IN PARK
A MAN who was “out of it” on spice and heroin pulled out a knife in a busy public park and was seen “throwing himself at road signs”.
Jake Bodel, 21, who “prefers drugs to a relationship”, had just been made homeless with his partner when he was seen haranguing her in Pickering Park, west Hull, at 6pm on June 6, Hull Crown Court heard.
Bodel was shouting at and demanding drugs from his partner, who was already in tears when a woman in her early 20s, who was walking dogs with her family, came upon the scene.
Phillip Evans, prosecuting, said Bodel turned his attention to her, and began shouting threats, including: “Do you want a f ****** fight? Are you starting?” He also pointed at her, saying to the family: “You are all f ****** dead soon.”
The dog walker took Bodel’s threats seriously, was “extremely apprehensive about the situation”, and called police.
Mr Evans said: “It was six o’clock on a June evening; there were young children in the park with their parents, and on witnessing these events the parents were marshaling their children to safety.”
Bodel then went into one of two bags his partner was carrying and pulled out a “table knife”, which he pulled across his forearm, drawing blood. He then pushed his partner to the ground and “launched an attack on her, punching her to the face, head and body and kicking her with his feet”.
The dog walker was watching and “feared that Mr Bodel would mete out the same kind of violence to her, the defendant still having the knife in his hand”, Mr Evans said.
But she nonetheless “found the courage” to shout at Bodel to put the knife down, which he did.
He then reverted to saying he wanted to kill himself and continuing to demand drugs.
Police arrived and arrested Bodel, taking steps to prevent him harming himself further. Bodel admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and threatening with a bladed article.
He had 20 previous offences on his record, including burglaries, theft and violence.
“He’s had a lot of community orders [sentences], hasn’t he?” said Judge Mark Bury. “It doesn’t seem to do him much good.”
Ian Durant, mitigating, said the incident was “not only odd, but particularly unsavoury”.
Noting a description of Bodel by the dog walker, Mr Durant said: “This defendant was indeed ‘out of it’ on a cocktail of heroin and spice, both he and [his partner] having been made homeless sometime earlier on.
“It quickly developed into an unsavoury incident and the defendant fully accepts that the witnesses, notably [the dog walker] and her family would have been greatly alarmed and distressed.
“He wanted to kill himself, and witnesses described his behaviour, throwing himself at road signs and banging his head on static objects wanting to harm himself.”
Jailing Bodel for two years, the judge told him it was clear from the circumstances of the incident and from what he told the probation service “that you are somebody who likes taking spice”.
He said: “You say to the probation service you prefer it, that is to say drugs, to a relationship. You show no motivation at all for wanting to give it up.
“The fact that you had taken spice voluntarily and behaved in this way under its influence is an aggravating feature.
“This was a particularly unpleasant incident for anybody to witness.
“You were banging your head against road signs and waving a knife around, threatening and shouting – it’s totally unacceptable, and you don’t seem to want to give any of this up.”