Army veteran brandished hunting knife to scare teenagers
An army veteran brandished a "fearsome" hunting knife to scare a group of teenagers he believed had damaged his motorbike.
Steve Wilson, 63, confronted the youths after watching them hanging out in the car park outside his flat in Radbrook Hall Court, Shrewsbury, on May 30 last year.
He had been watching them from his window before going outside to accuse them of causing the damage. The youths denied it, at which point Wilson drew the knife from its sheath attached to his belt. The teens fled, and Wilson was later arrested by police.
Prosecutor John Brotherton told Shrewsbury Crown Court: “The defendant told police he wanted to scare them. It had that effect. He had the knife from his time as a cadet sergeant.”
Wilson, of Radbrook Hall Court, pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article.
Adrian Roberts, defending, said Wilson had served in Northern Ireland in 1975 and also worked as a security guard in retail and at RAF Shawbury. He said: “He knows he shouldn’t have done it. He didn’t intend for there to be any violence.”
Judge Anthony Lowe argued that if the youths had stood their ground and attempted to confront Wilson, there may have been “unavoidable consequences” and someone could have been seriously hurt with the “fearsome weapon”.
Judge Lowe gave Wilson a 12-month community order and an eight-week curfew from 7pm to 7am. He also ordered him to carry out 20 rehabilitation activity hours and for the knife to be destroyed.
