Persistent Northampton knife carrier, 23, slapped with jail time after breaching suspended sentence

A Northampton man has been ordered to serve time in prison after he was caught carrying a knife while serving a suspended sentence for the same offence.

John George Russell, previously of Melbourne House, St James, had a ‘small, sharp’ kitchen knife in his possession on May 7, this year on Monks Park Road in Abington.

The 23-year-old, who now has a six-month-old baby, told police officers at the scene that he had a knife before throwing it to the ground.

He claimed the knife was from his mother’s kitchen and that he was going to use it to eat his lunch, which was in a food container.

However Northampton Crown Court heard on Friday (August 20) how members of the public had seen someone walking down the street with a knife and called the police for help.

Prosecuting barrister, John Eley, said: “In effect, he was threatening people with the knife, but he did not think he had done anything wrong.”

Russell was also charged with obstructing a police officer in their duty after he attempted to run away from the arresting officer on May 7.

He pleaded guilty to both charges at a hearing at Northampton Magistrates Court last month.

Russell has 18 previous convictions, including some of the same nature to this offence.

In 2019 he was given a community order and drug rehabilitation for possession of a blade. He was then handed a three month sentence, suspended for 12 months, in July 2020, again for possession of a knife.

The third possession of knife offence, relating the incident earlier this year, happened within the 12 months in which his previous sentence was suspended for, which put him in breach of the conditions and meant he was sent to prison.

At the court hearing for the latest offence, Liam Muir, defence barrister, said: “He is a young man who has been addicted to drugs, has been homeless and has never had any real stability.

“He now has a six-month-old baby.

“He said to me ‘I needed something to straighten out my life and this [being in prison] has given me that opportunity’.

“He has been in prison for three-and-a-half months and he has had that period of time to get off drugs, which can be seen as he looks healthy.

“He has set himself up so he has accommodation when he gets out and he wants to know when he can see his child as this will be their first Christmas together.

“I understand that this is seriously aggravated because it is the same offence [as the one he committed that resulted in a suspended sentence].

“This is a young man who has stopped to deal with his issues.”

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane told the court that there was no option other than a custodial sentence due to the fact Russell breached his suspended sentence.

She sentenced Russell to a total of eight months in prison; two months for breaking the suspended sentence and six months for possession of a bladed article.

Judge Crane told Russell that he will serve half of his custodial sentence.