A serial knifeman caught carrying a blade yet again has been freed after promising to turn his life around.
Jordan Akinforlarin, who has displayed a "persistent pattern for carrying knives", went to a job centre in Newcastle city centre armed with a blade in his latest offence.
Although he didn't produce it, a woman working there said she felt intimidated by his behaviour and ended up calling the police. When officers caught up with him, he had a lock knife with a Stanley blade inserted into it. Akinforlarin was facing a jail sentence at Newcastle Crown Court but after hearing he had stopped taking Spice and was trying to change his life around, a judge gave him a chance to prove himself.
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It was on February 24 this year that Akinforlarin went to the Jobcentre Plus, on Cloth Market, Newcastle, to try to get a hardship payment. He was told he would have to contact a call centre.
Akinforlarin was originally accused of threatening the woman but he denied doing so and prosecutors dropped that charge. However the woman called police and they arrested him on Blackett Street, where he admitted he was in possession of the knife.
The court heard Akinforlarin, 26, of Harbottle Court, Byker, Newcastle, has 35 previous convictions in total, including four for carrying knives and one for having a meat cleaver during an affray.
Brian Hegarty, defending, said of the incident at the job centre: "He had been sanctioned because of difficulties with his benefits and he asked to use a computer. There was a disagreement because he was asked to leave. He accepts he was complaining and says they were offering no assistance but he emphatically denies making any threats."
He added that he was compliant with the police and has a diagnosis of psychosis and schizophrenia.
Mr Hegarty said: "His rate of offending is slowing and he is maturing. He is trying to distance himself from drug consuming peers who are also involved in criminality."
Akinforlarin read a letter to the court on the video-link from prison in which he expressed his "sincere apologies" and acknowledged carrying knives causes worry in the community. He said the support he has had has helped him and he has overcome his Spice dependency.
He pleaded guilty to having a bladed article and Judge Amanda Rippon released him from prison and deferred sentence for five months on the conditions that he stays out of trouble, maintains stable accommodation and tries to find work if he can. He was told if he abides by the conditions, the prison sentence will be suspended in October.
Judge Rippon told him: "I'm going to take an exceptional course in your case. I'm only just persuaded to do it, largely by your thoughtful letter and Mr Hegarty's determined submissions that you have reached a point where you might have changed. This is your chance to prove everything you've just said is true."
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