A MAN who pulled a seven-inch kitchen knife on two people at Les Ormes leisure centre is to be deported from the Island.
Nicolae Tudor brandished the weapon at the pair – and began walking towards them – after they told him not to smoke outside the sports hall, the Magistrate’s Court heard.
The 44-year-old, who was drunk, was later arrested and was this week told he would be deported and banned from returning to Jersey for three years.
It is the latest knife crime incident in the Island and follows several high-profile court cases, including the sentencing of two teenagers for attempted murder after a boy was repeatedly stabbed at Le Geyt in St Saviour.
Although the police have said there has been no noticeable increase in knife-crime in Jersey, they have welcomed plans to introduce tough new laws to deter people from carrying blades in public.
Currently, the authorities have to prove that anyone caught in possession of a knife intended to use it to harm someone.
In the UK – bar a few exceptions – simply carrying such a weapon is a criminal offence and the authorities do not need to prove intent in order to launch a prosecution.
In an interview with the JEP ahead of the Le Geyt stabbings sentencing hearing, Chief Inspector Chris Beechey, from the States police, said he hoped that the new legislation would help to reduce the number of weapons on the streets.
During the hearing, the court was told that Tudor did not harm anyone with the knife, and placed it back in his pocket after the incident.
Tudor admitted a charge of conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace and told the court via a Romanian interpreter that he just wanted to go back to his home country, where his wife and five children live.
Tudor has no previous convictions and has been in custody for the past 35 days.
During sentencing, Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris said the defendant would remain in custody until he was removed from the Island.
