Man jailed after trying to take steak knife in club
A VIOLENT criminal was arrested for trying to carry a steak knife into a Birmingham city centre nightclub. Rikeen Samuels was reported for having ‘something suspicious’ concealed in his jacket outside Reflex on Broad Street.
He tried to run away but was caught by police. The 25-year-old thug, who has a penchant for knives, was jailed for more than eight years in 2015 after stabbing a teenager in the stomach.
Then while in prison he threw a kettle of boiling water over a guard burning his neck and right side of his body. Samuels, of Wheatsheaf Road, Oldbury, was jailed for five years at Birmingham Crown Court after admitting possession of a bladed article and attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.
Prosecutor Efstathios Divaris said: “On the 19th of December last year he was outside Reflex on Broad Street, Birmingham when he was reported as having something suspicious in his jacket.
“Officers stopped and spoke to him. He tried to get away but was detained. An 11cm (4.3 inch) steak knife was found in his jacket pocket.”
The attack on the prison officer took place at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes on August 3, 2019 after the victim saw Samuels standing outside someone else’s cell and asked him to return to his own. When the officer spoke to him a little later, accompanied by four colleagues, Samuels chucked a kettle of water over him with the liquid making contact with his neck, arm and side.
The victim required hospital treatment and it was estimated at the time it would take around eight months for the injuries to fully heal.
The court heard Samuels had also wracked up four offences of having knives in prison.
Alex Scott, defending, said: “He was attending appointments with the probation service and, significantly, had acquired meaningful employment as a warehouse operator and became engaged.
“The more recent indicators suggests he is becoming a more mature man. He has spent most of his adult life in custody.”
Judge Peter Carr ruled that Samuels’ previous convictions were an ‘aggravating feature’ but he drew back from declaring him ‘dangerous’ – which would have resulted in an extended sentence – primarily because he was a teenager at the time.
Samuels, appearing in court via a video-link from HMP Birmingham, said ‘thank you your honour’ after receiving his sentence.