No, Judge, That’s Not A Harder Sentence…

A man has narrowly avoided jail after he brandished an eight-inch knife at a woman police officer and threatened to kill her.

How?

Matthew Bowman, mitigating, told the court his client accepted the Crown’s account of what happened.

I…

Wait. That counts as mitigation?

Ward, of Fenners Way, in Basildon, was handed a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. Judge John Lodge said he was able to suspend Ward’s prison sentence so he could complete an alcohol treatment course with the Essex Probation Service.

…

“Courageous police officers were put at risk because there was a drunk man on the streets brandishing a knife.

“Quite rightly, you were arrested and remanded by the Magistrates’ Court.

“You have started to deal with your alcohol issues in prison and I take the view it is a harder sentence for you to undergo intensive treatment in the community.”

Not, I suspect, in Judge Lodge’s community, mind you.