Grieving binge drinker armed with bread knife calls 999 on himself
A man called Leicestershire Police after a night of binge drinking to tell them he was in the street armed with a bread knife. Ream Rourke, 28, had been upset because it was a few days before the second anniversary of his mother's death.
At Leicester Magistrates' Court on Monday, April 29, prosecutor Richard Holt described the incident, which happened at 3.45am on Friday, April 12. He said: "The police were called from a phone box in Abbey Lane where the defendant identified himself and said in a very apologetic way he'd got a knife and had nowhere to go."
After the police failed to respond immediately, Rourke rang them back and asked them where they were. After that he was arrested and the police recovered a bread knife with an eight-inch blade.
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Zara Cowan, representing Rourke, who lives in Abbey Lane, told the court: "He is 28-years-old and has no previous convictions, cautions or reprimands. This month is the two-year anniversary of his mother's death.
"She died at the age of 44 and it was unexpected. He tells me the day she died was 'the day my world flipped upside down'.
"He was binge drinking and it was a call for help. He had placed the knife in his pocket, walked to the phone box and told the police where he was."
She said Rourke had already taken steps to sort himself out. She said: "Since his arrest he has learned to open up with his friends - he was bottling it all up.
"He's cut down on his drinking. That was the main factor here."
Rourke, who admitted possessing a knife in public, was given a suspended sentence. The chair of the bench, Ben Faust, told Rourke: "While we might have sympathy for the situation you found yourself in, you did commit an offence that is deemed pretty serious.
"The fact we're talking about custody should indicate that to you.
"We do feel it would be unjust to send you to prison."
As well as a 12-week sentence, suspended for six months, he was ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £154 victim surcharge.