A MAN caught with a lock knife as he tried to get into Bradford's underground tunnels told police that he had taken it from 'fighting kids'. 

Bradford Crown Court heard that Jaqub Demeter, 26, of Chellow Grange Road, Bradford, was searched by door staff as he entered Sunbridge Wells in the city centre at 11.30pm on June 3 last year.

The folding lock knife was discovered in Demeter’s man bag. After first telling a doorman he could keep the weapon, Demeter used the distraction of a bunch of people pushing into the bar to slip inside.

He was located a few minutes later by staff, who called the police. They arrested Demeter and recovered the knife.

Prosecutor Lauren Smith told the court that during an interview he claimed to have seen “two kids fighting; one of them had a knife. He took the knife off them to avoid anything happening. He then put the knife in his bag before walking to the club".

Following a trial last November Demeter was found guilty of having the knife.

On New Year’s Day this year, whilst he was on bail for possession of the knife, Demeter removed security labels from electronic goods at the Keighley branch of Sainsbury’s and put them in his bag.

He then left the store but was stopped by security guards and the items, worth £685, were recovered. However, they had been damaged and were not saleable.

Mitigating, Gerald Hendron said Demeter had a history of shoplifting but had no previous convictions for weapons offences.

He said there had been no confrontation between him and another person, and that he had offered no resistance when the knife was found in his bag.

He argued against a further custodial sentence for Demeter, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds where he has been on remand since early January.

His Honour Judge Colin Burn described shoplifting as “a corrosive offence” that can affect small businesses but that the possession of the knife was a more serious matter.

He said: “A knife like this … can cause untold damage if it is used in a crowded environment such as a nightclub.”

He sentenced Demeter to 16 weeks imprisonment for having the knife and a four-week community order for theft to run concurrently.

Given the time Demeter has spent in prison on remand, he will serve 11 days before being released on licence.

The knife was ordered to be destroyed.