Man tells shop worker ‘I’ll stab you for £1...’
ARMED POLICE SWOOP ON ARNDALE AFTER KNIFE IS WAVED IN SHOPS
ARMED police swooped on Manchester Arndale when a homeless man grabbed a knife and told a shop worker: ‘I’ll stab you for a pound.’
Bruno Kalsers was under the influence of the drug Spice when he made the bizarre threat at the busy shopping mall, a court heard.
The 30-year-old has now been jailed for 14 months after his behaviour brought the shopping centre and surrounding area of the city centre to a standstill.
Manchester Crown Court heard how staff at Poundland heard Kalsers ‘screaming and shouting’ outside the store in a foreign language, at around 8.50am on Tuesday, January 30.
He came into the shop with a receipt and then pulled a six-inch knife from the shelves and placed it down on the counter, along with a £1 coin.
Addressing a female shop worker, Kalsers said: “I’ll stab you for a pound.”
He also made ‘slashing movements,’ prosecutor Stella Massey said.
After buying the knife, Kalsers made his way to the Aldi store in the Arndale.
By then the Poundland worker had alerted security staff.
While in Aldi, Kalsers continued to make stabbing motions.
He bought two tins of peas, started hacking at them and then began eating the vegetables with a spoon, the court heard.
Arndale security staff contacted police, and firearms officers were scrambled to the scene, where he was arrested.
Kalsers initially denied shouting and screaming, making slashing movements or threatening to stab anyone. But the following day he appeared before magistrates and pleaded guilty to counts of threatening with a blade and using threatening words or behaviour.
Kalsers, who has previous convictions for theft and battery, has remained in custody since his arrest.
He has already served six months on remand, defence barrister Clare Brocklebank said.
The court heard that Kalsers, from Latvia, was at a ‘low point’ in his life and was sleeping rough at the time of the incident.
The former postman, of no fixed address, suffers from depression, and his use of drugs including Spice and cannabis has had an adverse effect on his mental health, the court was told.
Sentencing Kalsers, Judge Anthony Cross QC told him: “Happily no one was injured and you were arrested.”