Knifeman made death threats in the street
A father-of-two is facing a jail sentence after going berserk with a knife, threatening a rival and his family members and stabbing their car bonnet. Mohammed Nori, 39, warmed up for the knife terror by sending his adversary a chilling text message which read: “I will make your life hell.”
He turned up at the man’s house in Queen Street, Filey, and got out of a Citroen car with another man, York Crown Court heard.
Nori’s first move was to smash the living-room window with a punch while shouting: “Come outside, I’m going to have you.”
Prosecutor Eleanor Fry said Nori pulled the knife out of his pocket as the victim walked out of his house. As Nori waved the blade around, he hissed: “I’m going to kill you.”
The victim, who was named in court, told Nori to get off his property, but the knifeman simply walked over to the family’s Vauxhall car and thrust the blade into the bonnet.
The victim’s brother came out of the house and Nori charged at him with the knife. One of the brothers had to block knife with their arm. Two or three other householders came out of the property as Nori rushed the victim’s sister who was also threatened.
“They shouted at him and said police would be contacted,” said Ms Fry. “At that point he left the area.”
Police arrived at the scene and gathered CCTV footage of the terrifying incident in the early hours of September 14.
Nori, of Heron Court, The Pastures, Filey, was later arrested and charged with using threatening words and behaviour, possessing a knife in public and criminal damage.
He admitted the offences and appeared at the Crown Court on Monday when he was due to be sentenced.
Defence barrister Taryn Turner said it was Nori who initially called police to ask them to speak to the victim after he allegedly called at the defendant’s family home.
“The defendant claims he was disturbed at about 5am and was woken up by a dog barking,” added Mrs Turner.
Mrs Turner said Nori - who came to live in the UK after migrating from his native Iran 19 years ago - claimed he was the victim’s former boss at a local business and had previously fired him.
But the court heard there was currently no proof to this counter-allegation and when police turned up at the victim’s home, his car engine was cold, suggesting it had not been used that night.
Judge Paul Batty QC adjourned sentence to February 3 next year to allow the defence team to compile a full case comprising Nori’s counter-claims and for the prosecution to produce CCTV evidence.
But he warned Nori: “The fact that you had with you a knife, and brandished it, makes this an extremely serious matter.”
Mr Batty told Nori that a jail sentence was highly likely. A catastrophic car fire in Bridlington was just one of dozens across the country that has led to calls for Vauxhall to issue a massive product recall.
The company has this week been “plunged into crisis”, after allegations of faulty heater wiring in Corsa D and E models surfaced.
And Filey man Josh Mckaig has seen at firsthand the devastation caused by one of the fires.
He said: “All of a sudden smoke started billowing in my face.
“I got out, ran around the car and opened the passenger door, and as I looked down at the footwell there was a big ball of flames - it spread to the seats within 20 seconds.”
Luckily, Josh escaped unharmed from the inferno on November 16.
The Sun newspaper launched an investigation claiming to have uncovered a problem in the heating wiring system.
Vauxhall said it had “no confirmed reports of vehicle fires originating in the vehicle heating and ventilation system of the Vauxhall Corsa D/E”.