‘I’ll stab you for a pound’

A KNIFEMAN told shoppers ‘I’ll stab you for a pound’ before being arrested in a dramatic swoop by armed officers, a court heard.

Bruno Kalsers brought the Arndale shopping centre and surrounding areas to a standstill on Tuesday morning.

Witnesses reported a ‘huge’ police presence in response to the incident, which culminated in the 29-year-old being detained outside Next on Corporation Street.

Kalsers, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to a charge of making threats with a bladed article and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress, when he appeared before Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court yesterday. Dressed in a grey sweatshirt, he remained emotionless during the brief hearing. Steve Woodman, prosecuting, told the court that at around 8.50am on Tuesday, January 30, the defendant was seen in the Poundland store on Market Street. A shop worker reported Kalsers was waving a folding pocket knife around in a ‘flashing motion.’ “She heard him making comments to customers including, ‘I’ll stab you for a pound,’” said Mr Woodman. Kalsers then approached the till and put the knife down on the counter along with a pound coin. Mr Woodman added: “The store worker said she felt she had no option but to serve him as she feared for her own safety and that of her customers.”

CCTV footage showed Kalsers then cross Market Street and go into the Aldi store, which is part of the Arndale complex. There he was seen stabbing the knife at tins of food before police arrested him nearby. No mitigation was offered as the defendant had refused legal representation.

District Judge John Temperley said: “In view of you behaviour and the nature of these offences, and concerns over your metal health if I released you, I am remanding you in custody.”

Kalsers will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on March 1.