Swift justice for man caught “demonstrating” how to stab someone

A Scarborough man has been jailed for six months within three days of being caught on CCTV lunging at a man with a pair of scissors.

Jerome Christian Clough, 30, of Prince of Wales Terrace, was seen on CCTV in the early morning of Saturday 9 May in what appeared to be a heated conversation with two other people. He was then seen to take a pair of scissors from his pocket and lunge at the man he was in conversation with.

CCTV operators alerted North Yorkshire Police at 6.38am and Clough was arrested two minutes later, despite running off from the scene.

Although no complaint was received by the victim, thanks to the CCTV evidence, officers were able to charge Clough with possessing a bladed article and affray.

He appeared at York Magistrates’ Court on 11 May where he pleaded guilty to both offences and was jailed for 26 weeks for affray and eight weeks for possessing the blade.

In interview Clough claimed he used the scissors for art and craft and that he was actually showing the victim an example of how to stab someone that he had seen on a video.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Alfie Thomlinson, said: “Clough was seen in broad daylight as the town was waking up and busy with workers, residents and visitor clearly lunging at a man with a pair of scissors.

“The swift action of the CCTV operators followed by the immediate response of officers on the ground meant he was detained within two minutes of the report coming in to us.

“By the following morning, he was charged and remanded by detectives working with the Crown Prosecution Service and by Monday morning he was sent to jail.

“Clough denied that he did anything wrong in his police interview, claiming his scissors were for art and craft purposes and that he was merely demonstrating something he had seen in a video.

“Hopefully he can now take time to reflect on his behaviour and understand how serious this violent act could have been if contact was made with the man.

“Violent behaviour involving blades will simply not be tolerated on the streets of North Yorkshire, and this should be a clear message to anyone who thinks about carrying any kind of weapon.”