Court report

A man with a schizophrenia background was given a suspended sentence yesterday at Bournemouth Crown Court amidst the “escalation of violence” related to knife crime.

Simon James, 32, was charged with possession and production of a knife in public place, which was “serious” in the words of Mr. J. Fuller Q.C.

On July, 23 last year, the defendant was overheard quarrelling with his girlfriend in a flat in Poole, Dorset. Close by were the car wash facilities, said Miss Carolyn Branford Wood, prosecuting. On that Wednesday afternoon, James, holding a knife with his right hand, entered the premises and pinned a man against the wall. A witness said: “I could see terror on the lad’s face”.

The police arrested James and seized a number of knives including the kitchen knife he used. Mr. Chris Gair, defending stated his client’s act was merely to show that he had a knife.

Miss Wood mentioned the drunken state of the defendant after drinking gin. James was so drunk that he could not remember anything when interviewed afterwards.

In 2003, James was arrested for drink-related disorder. Two years later, he was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court for dishonesty offences.

The man suffered from “spontaneous, irrational thinking”, “high anxiety”, some schizophrenic symptoms listed in his psychiatric report. Mr. Gair said James was caught in a “vicious circle” where he was disadvantaged because of his mental illness. The defendant was said to have tried to “get his life back on track” as well as seeking medical advice; “It was not his bad.” However, James did fail to attend his appointment due to family entanglements.

The judge announced a suspended sentence of 6 months with an operational period of 18 months. Mr. Fuller Q.C. stressed the public concern with the growing knife culture, which had just been highlighted by this case.