Man armed with two knives causes havoc in quiet Hull street
MAN ARGUED WITH WOMEN IN THE STREET
A Loud-mouthed and aggressive knifeman brought chaos and carnage to a quiet Hull street, frightening families who lived there.
Fired-up troublemaker Mark West had convictions for 103 previous offences and was shouting and swearing in the street.
He caused such a commotion while arguing with two women that two worried men went out to intervene.
He pulled two knives out during angry confrontations, but he still continued mouthing off even when the police threatened him with a Taser, Hull Crown Court heard.
West, 39, of St George’s Villas, Field Street, off Holderness Road, east Hull, admitted possessing a knife and using threatening behaviour on March 24.
Olivia Mcgeeney, prosecuting, said that two men heard a commotion outside their homes at about 9.45pm.
West and two women were shouting and the witnesses became concerned because it sounded aggressive.
One of the men went outside, but West became aggressive when he was approached.
He continued to be aggressive, his hands were covered in blood from an injury to his left hand and he was shouting and screaming in the resident’s face before being pushed backwards.
West pulled a five-inch knife from his sleeve, but the second resident intervened and kicked it from his hands to disarm him and pushed him to the ground.
West got up and reached into his other sleeve and pulled out a second three-inch knife out.
He was later found in Field Street, leaning against a fence, and had to be threatened with a Taser.
“He didn’t comply with verbal instructions and was continuing to reach into his pockets,” said Miss Mcgeeney.
“He was eventually detained. There was a significant amount of blood on both hands from an injury to his left hand.”
One of the residents later said that it was a quiet residential street and a lot of families lived on it, some of whom had young children.
He was scared about what might happen if a person was prepared to carry a knife on a street where children lived.
The man said that he would not have been able to live with himself if West had stabbed someone and caused a serious injury or death,
said Miss Mcgeeney.
West had convictions for 103 previous offences, including two for possessing a knife in 2017 and January last year.
He had been given a 24-week suspended prison sentence and later a six-month suspended sentence, but he had also been jailed on earlier occasions.
Nigel Clive, mitigating, said that West committed the latest offences during the running of a community sentence, imposed on March 2 for two shoplifting offences, and a suspended sentence.
“He has a horrendous record for shop theft and it’s all linked to addiction,” said Mr Clive.
“He has had a long history of substance abuse and he wants some assistance to correct that.
“A mixture of Valium and other drugs got him to a point where he could not properly control his actions. Worryingly, he has a propensity to pick up a knife.
“There is no suggestion that he has tried to use a knife. He isn’t, perhaps, the most violent of individuals. When the defendant was arrested, he was covered in blood. He had a fractured eye socket.
He had been knocked unconscious.
“The defendant had been beaten up by more than one man.
“The defendant, for his part, did not use any violence at all.
“He ended up with broken facial bones and significant wounds.”
West had been homeless for a long time but, after being released from a prison sentence, had been living with a friend.
Recorder Megan Rhys said that West was “egging on” local residents to have a go and was “shouting and screaming at some of them” during the confrontation.
“This was a quiet residential street where families live,” said Recorder Rhys. “They were concerned for their own safety and the safety of their families and neighbours.
“We read in the media every single day of people who carry knives and use them to commit serious injury or worse. They could have had no idea what you intended.
“This caused serious alarm or distress to the witnesses and it’s clear from the actions that they had to resort to in order to disarm you from the weapons.”
West was jailed for two years and one month.