Man jailed for having knife outside Filey flats

A violent offender was given police bail after terrorising a woman with a weapon - only to be caught with a knife outside a block of flats three days later.

Jamie Duffield, 29, had threatened the woman with a bat and assaulted her, causing injury, at her home in Scarborough. Police were called and found Duffield in possession of cocaine, York Crown Court heard.

He was brought in for questioning and denied assaulting the woman or even having a bat, and was bailed pending further enquiries.

Three days later, on January 14, Duffield caught a taxi from his home in Scarborough to a block of flats in Filey where he believed his then partner would be, said prosecutor Felicity Hamblin.

Duffield, who was carrying a Stanley knife, tried to open the communal front door but couldn’t get in, so he used the taxi driver’s phone to call his girlfriend.

Worried residents called police to say there was a man at the front door who appeared to be carrying a knife.

When officers arrived, Duffield dropped the knife but police spotted it.

Duffield was arrested and charged with his second weapon offence in the space of three days. He told police he had no intention of using the knife but admitted possession.

He was bailed again, but on February 7, just over three weeks later, he went shoplifting in Scarborough. Duffield, of Royal Court, Scarborough, appeared for sentence via video link after admitting two counts of possessing an offensive weapon, common assault, possession of a Class A drug and shoplifting. The offences were in breach of a community order and conditional discharge he had received for previous offences last year.

Defence barrister Chloe Fairley said Duffield had drug problems and stole because he struggled financially.

Recorder Benjamin Nolan QC gave Duffield a 40-week jail sentence.