Community order for knife charge
A MAN who went to Loughborough to meet a girl ended up being chased by police after the date was called off.
Benjamin Byrnes, 22, was in the Tesco car park at The Rushes shopping centre in the town, speaking with another man when his actions attracted the attention of two plainclothed police officers who were nearby.
When they approached him, Byrnes, who was carrying a small folding knife for self-defence, decided to run and attempted to discard the knife under a car as he fled across the car park.
The police officers chased and caught him and he appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday where he admitted one charge of possessing a knife in a public place on January 13.
Sally Bedford, prosecuting, said: “At about 1pm officers on plainclothes duty at The Rushes shopping centre see this defendant engaging with another male and approach the defendant.
“The defendant runs. He discards the knife as he runs away. He is detained nearby and police recover the lock knife, which had a 9cm blade.
“He was interviewed and said he panicked and reacted by running because he had the knife in his possession. He admitted discarding the knife.”
Rita Kotetcha, representing Byrnes, told the court her client, who is an engineer and lives with his mother in Brockenhurst Gardens, Nottingham, was single and had travelled to Loughborough to meet a girl.
She said: “On his route down she confirmed that the meeting was off.
“He was approached by two males asking him for change and that could be when the plain clothes officers saw him.
“The officer pulled out his badge but didn’t open it. He panicked and fled, discarding the knife under a car.
“He had carried the knife for self-defence in the past because he comes from St Ann’s in Nottingham where a lot of his friends had been victims of knife crime.”
She said Byrnes had no previous convictions and had not been carrying a knife since his arrest.
The magistrates gave Byrnes a 15-month community order, with 15 days of working with the probation service and 150 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and an £85 victim surcharge.