2 hours Ago By [email protected] (Mark Naylor)
A serial criminal with a huge list of 113 previous offences – including an "appalling" history of carrying weapons – brandished a knife in a busy street after a confrontation with another man turned nasty. Drug addict David Hunt got involved in a bad-tempered street fight when a woman who was on the scene told him to stab the other man after tempers suddenly frayed. He failed to learn his lesson after a series of previous convictions for knife crime, Hull Crown Court heard.
Hunt, 47, of Newington Street, off Hawthorn Avenue, west Hull, admitted possessing a knife on September 13. Maya Hanson, prosecuting, said that a man returning from Bridlington got off a bus in Anlaby Road , west Hull, between 4 and 5pm and walked towards Plane Street. He saw two men and two women near a pharmacy.
As he walked past, he heard someone shouting. He shouted back "Shut up" and one of the women said: "Stab him, stab him." The man pushed her away but Hunt started to chase him.
Police who happened to be passing saw two men, including Hunt, fighting outside Newington health centre. "Both were throwing punches at each other," said Miss Hanson. The man turned and ran off, followed closely by Hunt, who was detained and arrested.
The other man told the police: "He has a knife." Hunt was told to drop the knife. He did not do so and a police officer kneed him, causing him to release the three-inch-bladed kitchen knife.
He said that he got it from a friend's house. "This offence was committed on a busy street," said Miss Hanson. "There were numerous members of the public, including children.
There was a risk of disorder in light of the fact that a fight was taking place." Hunt had convictions for 113 previous offences and this was his eighth involving a weapon. He had been jailed for three years in March 2022 for offences including possessing a blade.
Oliver Shipley, mitigating, said that Hunt needed a specific type of knife for certain tasks and he was given one that he could use because he did not have one of that type. It was a "silly mistake". He made the "incredibly silly decision" to brandish the knife during a short-lived incident.
"He has been struggling with a crippling Class A drug addiction throughout his life," said Mr Shipley. Keep up to date with all the latest crime and court news from Hull with our free newsletter If he were jailed, he would lose his home, which he had spent a lot of time and effort in improving. "He doesn't know whether he has it in him to start all over again and build this back up," said Mr Shipley.
"He has got a terrible record but, for some time now, he has managed to stay out of any significant trouble. His record for weapons offences is appalling." Judge Mark Bury told Hunt: "Knife crime is a worrying development.
You only have to look at the news on any regular basis to know that homicides and serious injuries are caused by people carrying and using knives. Get all the latest crime and court news in Hull straight to your mobile via WhatsApp by clicking here . If you don’t like our community, you can leave any time.
We also treat members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. Read our privacy notice here . "This could have been a lot more serious than it is, albeit that was serious enough.
You have carried knives on previous occasions and the sentence that you have got for those offences has not deterred you. "You should have realised that, if you were caught carrying a knife in circumstances where you could easily have used it to cause serious injury or worse, the only way the court can deal with you is to send you to prison. The offence is too serious to deal with in any other way than a sentence of immediate imprisonment.
" Hunt, who was already in custody on remand, was jailed for 16 months..
