Teen with knife spared jail term
A party-going Sunderland teenager found hurling away a knife in a London street has avoided a prison term.
Emerson Nascimento, 19, of Cairo Street, Hendon, was handed the blade against his will by an attendee at a party, a hearing was told.
South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard usually law-abiding Nascimento was alone and felt under duress to take hold of it.
But he fled when police saw him in Pagnell Street, New Cross, south-east London, close to the party house.
They gave chase and spotted him tossing the knife into bushes on Monday, November 2.
Magistrates warned him of the danger of extreme injury and violence caused by people who carry weapons – but spared him jail.
They suspended his fourmonth prison sentence for 12 months due to his early guilty plea to possession of a bladed article in public and having no previous convictions.
Prosecutor Grace Taylor said: “Officers were on patrol when they saw the defendant walking along Bowerman Avenue. The defendant spotted the officers and stared at them. He refused to approach them and made off.
“They chased him and saw him take out a knife from his tracksuit bottoms and throw it into bushes.”
Joanne Gatens, defending, said: “He describes having been to a party. He has friends and relatives in the London area.
“He had been asked to look after the knife by somebody at the party. The other person had picked up his ID.
“He felt compelled to hold it. He intended to give it back. He’s found himself before the court, charged with a serious offence. He is remorseful for the foolish decision that he made, but he felt that he was backed into a corner.
“He made the decision to take the knife. He was by himself. The fact is there are no aggravated features.”
Jo h n L e e, c h a i r o f th e bench, told Nascimento: “Anybody who is caught in public with a bladed article, who doesn’t have a good reason for having it, has a starting point of six months' imprisonment.
“The high starting point is a reflection of what the public and the courts think of the sentencing of people who carry knives.”
Nascimento must pay £85 costs and a £128 victim surcharge. Magistrates ordered the forfeiture of the knife.