Stockton pub knifeman told by judge: 'It could have ended in a murder charge'

A knifeman was told he could have been in court for murder if a brave pub manager had not disarmed him.

Mark Peter Smith, 47, had an eight-inch kitchen knife in one hand and a barbecue fork in the other as he stepped into the Rimswell pub in Fairfield, Stockton.

Pub manager Steve Sharp saw the weapons, ran behind him and grabbed his wrist.

He pushed Smith against the bar, straightened his arm and, with the help of another man, got him to the floor,

They managed to take the knife and fork off him as he struggled, Teesside Crown Court heard today.

A judge, Recorder Eric Elliott QC, said single parent Smith acted “completely and utterly out of character” while on a night off from childcare.

He told Smith: “That night off could have ended in a murder charge.

“And you’re extremely fortunate that people, in particular Mr Sharp the publican, have stepped in to what could have ended up as a very, very ugly scene.

“Fortunately the courageous Mr Sharp intervened and disarmed you and avoided what could have ended up in a terrible and horrific scene.”

The trouble started while Mr Sharp was cleaning up in the pub, which had about eight customers just after midnight on March 11 last year.

A fight erupted outside with Smith and another man rolling about on the ground.

The other man was taken into the pub lounge while Smith was not allowed inside.

Rimswell pub in Stockton

Smith walked off and one witness heard him say: “I’ll ****ing kill him.”

He returned 20 minutes later armed with the weapons he had taken from his home.

He calmed down quickly and was escorted outside after he was disarmed in front of shocked onlookers.

After his arrest he said: “I was jumped by some young lads in the pub.”

He pointed to an injury to his face, saying: “I grabbed a knife. I was scared. I still am.”

He claimed he feared an adversary would “exact vengeance”, the court was told.

Smith, of Fairfield Road, Stockton, gave no replies in police interviews but later pleaded guilty to affray and having a bladed article.

He had not been before the courts for 11 years and had no violence on his record for 26 years.

Duncan McReddie, defending, said: “He can offer no rational explanation for his behaviour on the night in question.

“He regards it as being entirely out of character, and indeed his record of previous convictions does seem to support that.

“Mr Smith can only attribute his behaviour to a state of anxiety brought on by a cocktail of medication that he needs to take for a chronic long-standing and serious disorder in the region of his stomach.”

He said the prescriptions for Smith’s ill health included a form of morphine.

Mr McReddie made a plea for mercy, primarily because of the impact on his daughter if he went to prison.

He said her life would be disrupted and she would have to move home and school.

He added Smith was a good parent who stopped offending after his child was born.

The judge told Smith: “Whatever your intention at the time, it must have struck fear into the people that were sitting quietly in that public house having a drink in the early hours of the morning.

“It’s quite clear that these days normally you are a decent man doing your level best to bring up your young daughter.

“If I were to sentence you to prison you would come out, you would be homeless and, much more importantly, your daughter would have been deprived of your love and care.”

He gave Smith a one-year jail term suspended for two years with a year’s supervision, saying this was in both his and the public interest.