A toy gun was pulled out in public and pointed during a terrifying incident on a Nottinghamshire industrial estate. It all developed when cafe worker Beredon Korveshaj had an altercation with his cousin in the car park of Bar Lane Industrial Park, Basford, on June 6 this year.
Korveshaj shoved his cousin backwards, Nottingham Crown Court heard on Wednesday (July 27). When a member of the public rushed in to break them up, the defendant pulled out an imitation firearm from his waistband, cocked it and held it at his side.
Anthony Cheung, prosecuting, said: "As the defendant continued to argue with his cousin, he pointed the gun at the member of the public and at his cousin. Upon seeing this, another member of the public attempted to take the gun away from the defendant and, at this point, the defendant ran away". Korveshaj, 21, of Gawthorne Street, Basford, went into a cafe and returned with a large kebab knife, with the toy gun still in his other hand.
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He walked across the car park to confront his cousin but was unable to find him and returned to the cafe where he hid his BB gun, which had pellets in the magazine and a pellet in the chamber, and the returned with the knife. Korveshaj went on to plead guilty to possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possessing the knife.
He is of previous good character and has learned a "salutary lesson", explained Errol Ballentyne, mitigating. "There was no planning, no intention to cause any injury. This was unsophisticated, spur of the moment and spontaneous behaviour and, in the overall view of the incident, it did not last very long".
Judge Rupert Mayo told Korveshaj, through an Albanian interpreter: "Under two months ago, you lost your temper with your cousin. In a public area of the city and to reinforce your anger, you produced a toy gun which had in it a plastic BB pellet. You used that imitation weapon to scare not just your cousin but anybody else who was in the area.
"The use of guns in public places is always a serious matter but I accept that there was no chance of anybody being injured with this weapon. Unfortunately, your anger did not end there, and you fetched a large knife from your place of work and brandished that as well. The use of knives in public is also very serious.
"On the positive side, you have no previous convictions and you have made very good time of your life here in the UK and I am really glad you have been allowed to stay here until, I think, 2027". He imposed a seven-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and 20 rehabilitation activity days.
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