A security guard said he was “in training” after being caught carrying 11 knives and circular saws in his rucksack.
The bounty of weapons was revealed after Stefan Marin was spotted waving the blades around on a busy street in Maghull. The incident unfolded in front of shocked motorists, who had been stopped at a set of traffic lights mere metres away while making their way to work.
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Friday, that the 35-year-old was “observed brandishing knives and other bladed articles” at a pedestrian crossing at the junction of Maghull Lane and School Lane, near to Ashworth Hospital, at around 8.45am on May 3 last year. Joanne Daniels, prosecuting, described how Marin, of Linaker Street in Southport, first took out a circular saw blade before returning it to his bag and “replacing it” with a knife with a 10-inch blade.
Wearing a hi-vis jacket, he was seen “pacing up and down” a traffic island in the middle of the dual carriageway while “waving the knife around in the air and smashing it against railings” and “waving it towards passing vehicles”. Around five minutes later, the defendant took out a second knife then “replaced it with another bladed article” before “that process was repeated”.
Marin “appeared to be aware that he was being watched and put the blades back in his rucksack”, before he “started walking towards the people observing him”. However, he then left in the direction of Maghull North Station.
Around 15 to 20 minutes later, he was stopped and searched by police officers responding to 999 calls from concerned member of publics. His rucksack contained a total of 11 knives and circular saw blades, including one with a diameter of 12 inches.
Marin told the PCs that he worked at Ashworth Hospital and “asked to speak to his employer”, Nationwide Security Liverpool. He was employed by the company at the time and had been working as a security guard on a construction site at the high security psychiatric site.
He also claimed that he had been “threatened, so had been training”. Marin made no comment under interview following his arrest.
Ms Daniels stated that there was a “risk of this descending into an incident of serious disorder”, adding: “He was at a pedestrian crossing. Cars were stopping at the lights in close proximity to the defendant as he was holding out those blades.”
Marin has one previous conviction for one offence, which was said to be “neither relevant nor recent”. Jeremy Rawson, defending, told the court that his client suffers from bipolar disorder and is working as a security guard again, now being employed by an agency.
He said: “This was an isolated offence. There has been nothing since, and he is now back in steady employment.”
Mr Rawson said of CCTV footage of the incident: “What we can see from the garage is that he is standing in the central reservation. There are people coming and going out of the garage.
“He is seen in the background gesticulating. There is no obvious fear there.
“There is a motorist who says ‘have you seen the size of that knife?’, that is about it. The aggravating feature is the number of items.”
Marin, who was assisted by a Romanian interpreter in the dock, admitted 11 counts of possession of a bladed article in a public place. He was handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months, 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days.
Sentencing, Recorder Tim Harrington said: “Your behaviour was bizarre. What was underlining it, in my judgement, was that you suffer from bipolar disorder and you were, at the time, suffering from a psychotic episode.
“There was a risk of serious disorder had this gone wrong. In my judgement, given that this was a one-off, no actual harm was caused and that you have kept out of trouble since, your sentence can be suspended.”
Marin was also told to pay £200 in court costs and a victim surcharge. He replied: “Thank you, your honour.”
Source – Liverpool Echo
