Armed thug thought knuckle duster was 'a piece of jewellery'
An armed thug was stopped by police in a shop with a large knife and a knuckle duster. Martyn John Adrien, 34, from Elizabeth Road in St Austell, with found in possession of a large carving knife with tape bound around the handle when he visited a B&M store in the town on May 18 this year.
When police stopped him, they also discovered a knuckle duster, which is classed as an offensive weapon, on his person. Adrien, who pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing an offensive weapon and another of possessing a knife in a public place, told officers that he was carrying the weapons for his own self defence.
At a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court today (Friday September 27), it was heard how Adrien had six previous convictions from eight offences dating back to 2009 including one for possession of a bladed article.
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However his barrister said he didn't go out that evening carrying a knife but had removed it from other people before they caused trouble and he simply failed to dispose of it safely. She said Adrien saw the knuckle duster as "a piece of jewellery". She added: "He has been a victim of knife crime in the past. He was stabbed two years ago in his own home during an aggravated burglary."
His barrister said that at no point that evening did he intend to threaten anyone or cause anyone any harm and he only had the knife on his person for no more than 10 minutes before he was stopped in the B&M store.
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She told the court that his last offending, albeit for having a knife on him, was in 2009, half his life ago, when he was a youth and he has "since grown up" from that time and has been in a relationship and has a number of children with whom he's hoping to rebuild a relationship.
Recorder Andrew Willetts said knives and knuckle dusters are "frightening and menacing" and can cause great concern to people. "Pictures of these items are quite frightening," he said. "Striking someone with a knuckle duster could kill them. Stabbing someone with such a knife could also kill them.
"These items are frightening and menacing and cause me great concern."
Recorder Willetts said because Adrien had a previous conviction for carrying a knife in a public place, this was a second strike offence which left him no option but to send him to prison.
He added: "You didn't just have one weapon on yourself but two weapons which is an aggravating factor. You have been out of trouble for some time. It is a relapse in the behaviour you have shown in the past. But it is concerning that after all that time you have been offending again. For people who carry knives and weapons of this kind, immediate custody is unavoidable."
Adrien was sentenced to nine months in prison.
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