Man who threatened to stab 13-year-old boy behind Finedon school jailed

“Chaotic” Lewis Spiteri was seen drinking three bottles of vodka while loitering in the recreation ground behind Finedon Church of England Junior School on October 9, 2016.

But after first engaging in what was described as light-hearted “banter” with a 19-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy who were also at the park, his demeanour turned “nasty” and “spiteful”, Northampton Crown Court heard yesterday.

He disappeared for around 20 minutes before returning with what witnesses described as a six-to-eight inch knife.

He then began accusing the two youths of taking his “mum’s mobile phone.”

Prosecutor Caroline Bray said 28-year-old Spiteri attacked the 13-year-old boy, giving him a dead arm.

He then scratched the 19-year-old in the face and, returning to the boy, threatened the teenager with a knife saying he was going to “stab him in the cheek.”

Sentencing Spiteri, of Dagenham, Essex, to eight months in prison, judge Rupert Mayo, said: “There is clearly an element of immaturity about you.

“There is clearly something about you that makes you behave in such a frightening way.”

Defending for him, Ashley Hendron said the 28-year-old builder was having difficulty with alcohol at the time.

He added: “He is quite chaotic in terms of his organisation.

“He also struggles with reading and writing.”

Spiteri, who in committing the crime breached a previous order imposed on him for an offence of battery, will spend half his sentence in prison and the other half on licence.