Men found sleeping in camper with weapons

TWO men who were found asleep in a campervan with an array of weapons in Sunderland have been jailed.

Stefan Brinza, 29, and Marius Rezmelita, 42, were found sleeping in a campervan by police after a night of partying in October last year. When officers woke them up and searched the van, they discovered an axe, a sword and knives lying around in the vehicle.

At the time, both men were on police bail and were banned from associating with each other as they were under investigation for potential drug offences. Yesterday, they jointly appeared at Newcastle Crown Court via link from HMP Durham.

Brinza, of Richardson Terrace, Washington, was sentenced for three counts of possession of an offensive weapon, an axe, a knife and a sword. Rezmelita, of Donnison Gardens, Hendon, Sunderland, was sentenced two counts of possession of an offensive weapon, a claw knife and a folding knife.

The court heard that shortly before 9am on October 16 last year, police were made aware of a man being “slumped” inside a Fiat campervan near St Luke’s Terrace in Sunderland. When officers arrived, Brinza was found asleep in the front of the van with keys in the ignition. The officers then searched the vehicle and found an axe and a sword.

Officers then searched near to Rezmelita, and found a claw knife, a folding knife, a cricket bat and wallpaper knife. The court heard Rezmelita had four previous convictions for six offences, including possession of cocaine and crack-cocaine. He was also in breach of a suspended sentence at the time of the offence.

Recorder Hedworth KC jailed Brinza for six months and Rezmelita for eight months.