Stratford man pulled knife on group of friends he thought were laughing at him - The Stratford Observer

Stratford man pulled knife on group of friends he thought were laughing at him

Stratford Editorial 9th Aug, 2017 Updated: 10th Aug, 2017   0

A YOUNG Stratford man who pulled out a knife and threatened a group of friends he thought had been laughing at him has been told he could not have complained if he had been sent to custody.

But instead Dylan Carter was given a 12-month community order by a judge at Warwick Crown Court after pleading guilty to having a bladed article in public and threatening behaviour.

The 19 year-old of Glebe Road, was also ordered to do 70 hours of unpaid work, to take part in a rehabilitation activity, and to pay £340 costs.

Rebecca Wade, prosecuting, said at 4am on Saturday June 24, three friends were walking along Guild Street on their way to McDonalds.




But having passed, Carter stopped some distance in front of them, put his bike down and walked back towards the group in an aggressive manner.

He then pulled out a knife and threatened them with it, telling them to ‘come on.’


He eventually calmed down and cycled off.

After he was arrested at his home, Carter told the police he had been riding through Stratford when he saw three lads he knew.

He said they were laughing, and he thought they were laughing at him, adding that he had the knife with him because he worked in a warehouse and used it for cutting plastic.

Sarah Holland, for Carter, who the court heard had no previous convictions or cautions, said in 2015 Carter had been in a car crash, as a result of which he was ‘very ill for a very long time,’ and has undergone ‘over 100 operations to effectively rebuild him,’ including ones ‘to put his face back together.’

“This offence has come out of nowhere. He mistook laughter in the group as laughter at him.”

She said Carter was not a regular drinker but, following the death of his grandmother a couple of days earlier and an argument with his girlfriend, he had had a couple of glasses of wine and felt quite drunk.

Told Carter had ‘cognitive deficits’ as a result of the injuries he suffered, Recorder Steven Evans said: “I’m concerned that he needs help to look at what he did. He is an otherwise decent young man who’s done something wrong.”

Sentencing Carter, Recorder Evans told him: “You have never been in trouble before, and you patently come from a decent family.

“It is some concern that you behaved in this way, because people who carry knives sometimes end up killing someone.

“The first thing in my mind is an immediate custodial sentence for people who carry knives.

“You are of good character and have the support of your family, and you are in work and have taken steps to moderate your behaviour.

“But I want you to know, you could not have complained about an immediate custodial sentence.”

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