Drug addict used knife on dealer who scammed him

HE WAS SOLD PARACETAMOL INSTEAD OF COCAINE

A DRUG addict attacked his dealer with a knife after the cocaine he had bought from him turned out to be paracetamol.

Faizel Khan struck the man in the head with the handle of the knife during a scuffle outside the man’s flat in Leicester, a court heard.

Khan, 31, had waited outside for the man to go out for a cigarette and then followed him in and attacked him, taking cash from his pocket during the struggle.

The whole attack, which happened shortly before 6pm on Monday, June 21, was captured on the building’s CCTV cameras and Khan, who has a record of serious offending, was later arrested.

He told police he had been sold paracetamol that the dealer had pretended was cocaine. He denied the attack was a robbery because he was just trying to get back what the man owed him.

A charge of robbery was dropped and earlier this month he pleaded guilty to counts of blackmail and possessing a knife in public.

He appeared at Leicester Crown Court last Thursday to be sentenced and was jailed for two years and four months.

Paul Prior, representing Khan, of Welland Street, Highfields, Leicester, said his client’s class A drug addiction was the ultimate cause of his offending.

He said: “Mr Khan has had a drug addiction since the age of 18 or 19. He was given custody in 2009 for robbery and that helped him get off drugs but when he is released he slides back.”

He argued that the CCTV showed the victim letting Khan into the building, rather than Khan forcing himself in.

He said: “It’s not a surprise for the victim Mr Khan is there.”

Summing up the incident, Recorder Sunil Khanna told Khan: “He left for a cigarette and you followed him back in.

“He felt something poking him.

You demanded money and grabbed his jacket and reached in and you were waving your knife about.

“The two of you were scuffling. I accept you struck him with the butt of the knife – not the blade.

“He suffered a cut to the head, a cut to the hand and a puncture to the shoulder.

“You have a bad record for violence and drugs.”

Recorder Khanna listed the worst of Khan’s previous convictions, which included robbery, kidnapping, assaulting a police constable, common assault and attempted robbery.