Teenagers armed with hammer and knife threatened a Boston shop keeper, court told

Teenagers were carrying offensive weapons

Danielus Geigal, 18, of Granville Street, Boston admitted possessing a hammer and threatening behaviour and a 17 year old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted possessing a knife, threatening behaviour and damaging the mattress in a police cell, when they appeared before magistrates in Boston.

Prosecuting, Daniel Pietryka said the youths went to a shop in Bridge Street, Boston at midnight on May 21 and launched an attack on the shopkeeper, Mustafa Demir, when he refused to serve alcohol to Geigal.

He said they kept on asking him until eventually he had to ask them both to leave the store but then the youth opened his jacket and showed Mr Demir a knife and threatened to stab him and to smash the windows.

Mr Pietryka said Mr Demir picked up a mop and waved it towards him but Geigal took out a hammer and waved it towards him although he did not strike him.

He said that when interviewed later, they both admitted possessing the offensive weapons.

He said that the youth later damaged a mattress in his cell at the police station.

Mitigating for Geigal, Kerry Close said Geigal claimed he did not ask for alcohol and that the shop keeper had just assumed that was what he wanted.

She said he did not realise the shopkeeper had the right to ask him to leave his premises and to use reasonable force to make him do so and had only taken the hammer, which he had borrowed and was taking home, to stop Mr Demir from waving the mop at him.

Rebecca Freitas, for the youth, said the knife was not waved about and was only shown to Mr Demir from under his jacket to scare him off.

She said he was a 'very polite young man' who had no previous convictions and had not been in trouble since this incident.

She added that he had taken his anger out on the mattress in his cell where he had been held for 23 hours.

The magistrates sentenced the youth to a nine month referral order and ordered him to pay £100 compensation to the shopkeeper.

Giegal was ordered to take part in 15 rehabilitation days and to observe an electronically monitored curfew between the hours of 8pm and 8am for the next three months.

He also was ordered to pay £100 compensation to the shopkeeper.