A TEENAGER has avoided jail after threatening a man in Kidlington with a knife when he was 16 years old.
Ishmael Hemmings, now 19, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday (April 10) for one count each of possession of a bladed article and possession of a Class B drug, cannabis, on June 22, 2021.
Sentencing Hemmings, of Fontwell Road, Bicester, to 11 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, Judge Nigel Daly said: “It was a serious bit of offending.
"What concerns me most is your interest in knives – you should stay away from them.”
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During the sentencing, prosecutor Amelia Norman explained that the victim had first spotted the defendant and two other unknown males outside his garden gate in Bowerman Close, Kidlington at 8.45pm.
The males were lingering by a Vauxhall Corsa and when asked by the victim what they were doing outside his home, they got back into the car and said they were leaving.
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However, the victim pointed out that the rear drivers’ side wheel was flat. Ms Norman explained that Hemmings then got out of the car holding a knife in his right hand.
He told the victim: “What’s your f****** problem?”
The victim had grabbed a pickaxe from his garden and had pointed the wooden side towards Hemmings to try and create distance.
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One of the unknown males became involved, holding the victim, but he was able to get free and the unknown male ran off.
Hemmings then ran towards the victim ‘holding the knife as if he was going to stab him in the back’.
During the altercation, the rear windscreen mirror of the car had become damaged and eventually Hemmings fled from the scene.
The victim called the police and officers found the knife as well as 18 wraps of cannabis in the car, 15.28g in total.
Also found in the car were scales, a second knife, a machete and balaclavas.
No formal victim impact statement was ever made but during his witness statement, the victim said: “Luckily I was not injured.
"However it could have resulted in me being killed or seriously hurt, I was left shaken by what happened.”
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Defending Hemmings, barrister Brian James said: “At the time of the offence, he was a young man with no previous convictions.
“The offence is of some age now…he’s finished his education and he’s looking to rebuild his life in a law-abiding fashion.”
He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, 30 rehabilitation days, and four months of trail monitoring.
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