Kettering Nando's worker grabbed meat cleaver after accusation that he had slept with woman escalated

A Kettering Nando’s worker grabbed a meat cleaver from the grill and pointed it at someone who had accused him of sleeping with his girlfriend.

Lewis Tassell was confronted at the Carina Road chicken restaurant when he raised the blade in the air in front of colleagues and diners.

Another member of staff calmly took it from him before Tassell – who later lost his job – left and was arrested.

On Wednesday (April 12) the 20-year-old wiped a tear from his face as he was spared from prison.

Northampton Magistrates’ Court heard Tassell, of Talbot Close in Burton Latimer, was at work at about 9pm on May 9 last year when someone he knew from school entered the restaurant.

Prosecutor Shabbir Issat said the victim approached a member of staff and asked if he could speak to Tassell, wrongly believing his partner had cheated on him with the Nando’s worker. The victim was told Tassell had just taken a break and so could not speak to him.

But the pair then spoke when he walked up to the counter before the situation escalated.

Mr Issat said: "He has walked over to where the grill is, picked up a meat cleaver, raised it and pointed it at him."

CCTV footage from the incident was played in court and showed Nando’s staff intervening, with one female employee calmly taking the blade from Tassell’s hand.

Tassell later left the restaurant and was found with cannabis when he was arrested by police. He admitted threatening a person with a bladed article and possession of cannabis when he appeared at court earlier this year.

Mitigating, Ben Brown said Tassell was initially placid and it only escalated when the victim made an alleged threat to his family, telling him ‘he knew where they lived’.

He said Tassell then picked up the blade and told him to get out – with the weapon in his hand for about three seconds – and that the incident was out of character.

He said: "He is extremely remorseful about what's happened...he is just not that kind of lad."

Tassell faced the prospect of a spell behind bars but Mr Brown added that it would be ‘unjust’ to send him to prison.

He said: "He wants to put this behind him."

Tassell asked to address magistrates before he was sentenced to apologise for what had happened.

He said: "I'm sorry. This is not me. I accept whatever you are going to give me.

"I'm sorry. I should not have done this. I acted out. I'm sorry."

Chair of the bench Suzanne Gibbard moved to reassure Tassell he was not going to prison.

She said: "Don't worry, it's not going to be bad and you are going to go home.

"You are 20-years-old and sometimes you do things without thinking. This was clearly the case – we can see that from the CCTV.

"But there are consequences for actions and at this young age you are going to learn that."

Tassell was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 10 days of rehabilitation activities and 80 hours of unpaid work.

He must pay £85 in costs and a surcharge to fund victim services of £114.