A Nottingham casino doorman bravely kept a knife-wielding teenager at bay for 20 minutes while the 19-year-old waved the blade around in front of him.
Nottingham Crown Court was told how Ismail Hamza calmly kept talking to Nadir Mokadeh despite the obvious risk to his own safety the youngster posed.
At one stage he managed to get the warehouse workers’ mobile phone off him and told him he would hand it back if he dropped the weapon.
Police then arrived and were able to arrest the defendant, who went on to answer “no comment” to the questions he was asked.
Handing Mokadeh a 14-month term in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for 21 months, Judge James Sampson said: “This offence is clearly so serious that it crosses the custodial threshold.
“You pulled a knife on a man who was just doing his job and you repeatedly threatened him.
“He managed to keep talking with you despite your loutish behaviour which was down to drinking.
“Had you been an adult I would have had no hesitation in sending you to prison.
“But at this stage in your criminal career, and I hope this is the end of it, I am going to make this as a monumental mistake.”
Katie Hardiman, prosecuting, said the incident took place outside the Grosvenor Casino, in Maid Marian Way, at around 3.20am on July 13, this year.
She said the defendant had been angered because he had been refused entry as he did not have any identification of his age on him.
The prosecutor said: “Mr Hamza saw the defendant walking towards him and as he did so he pulled a knife out of his trousers telling Mr Hamza to ‘back up’ a number of times.
“He said to him ‘drop the knife and we can talk’ but the defendant started swinging it around.
“At one stage he was able to get his mobile phone from him and said ‘if you let me have the knife you can have your phone back’.
“The whole incident lasted for around 20 minutes and then the police arrived.”
Mokadeh, of the Oval, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to threatening another person with a bladed article in public and has no previous convictions of any kind.
Lauren Fisher, mitigating, said: “Perhaps what can most strongly be said for Mr Mokadeh is his young age and his guilty plea.
“He is not somebody who has ever troubled the courts previously.”
As part of the suspended sentence order, the judge ordered the defendant to carry out 15 hours unpaid work and to attend 15 rehabilitation sessions.
He also ordered him to pay £150 towards the prosecution’s costs.
Source – Nottingham Post
