'Snitches get stitches' - man's chilling threat to neighbour

A menacing bully tried to intimidate a shocked neighbour by "giving him the eye" and "staring him out" before aggressively warning him: "Snitches get stitches." Drug user Reby Smith made the chilling threat after the neighbour saw him "rampaging up and down" near his home and chasing his "terrified" brother while brandishing two large 12-inch kitchen knives. He later tried to pretend that the "Snitches get stitches" words might have been innocently used while his brother was rapping in the street, Hull Crown Court heard.

Smith, 25, of Nelson Court, off Wellington Street, in the Hull Marina area, denied an offence of witness intimidation on December 13, 2023 and two of having knives on December 5 of that year but he was convicted by a jury after a trial following just an hour of deliberations. Paul Genney, prosecuting, said that the man's flat backed directly on to that of Smith and they would see each other almost daily for about six months. "There had been a bit of trouble between them," said Mr Genney.



The man saw Smith's brother climbing on to a rubbish bin and pulling himself on to a roof in a bid to hide from Smith. "He eventually tried to get in through a window to get out of the way," said Mr Genney. Smith was "rampaging up and down" and he was looking at his brother while carrying two large kitchen knives, one of them with a serrated blade.

The neighbour alerted the police, who found the brothers. They blamed each other for the trouble and having the knives. Both men had cuts.

Smith claimed that his brother threw the knives down from the roof and that he just picked them up for safekeeping because he was supposedly concerned that members of the public, including children, were about and might pick them up. The neighbour who saw what happened gave a statement to the police. "It was that statement that annoyed this defendant," said Mr Genney.

On December 13, 2023, the man was at home when Smith walked past before stopping, looking directly at him and saying: "Snitches get stitches." Four days later, the man told the police that he had been threatened by Smith. During police interview, Smith denied even knowing the man.

He claimed that the neighbour and a few others were trying to get him thrown out of his home and that making a complaint was behind it all. He denied making threats. Smith claimed that his brother was "rapping in the street" at the time and that the words "Snitches get stitches" might have been used during the rapping.

Mr Genney said that, if this was the case, it was a "bit of a coincidence" as it was supposedly done in front of the man who had given the statement. Cathy Kioko-Gilligan, mitigating after the verdicts, said that the man was left distressed by the threat but there was no suggestion that Smith had a knife with him at the time. Smith had suffered difficulties for some time and his life was sometimes chaotic, causing him to fail to comply with court orders.

He had a long-standing drug problem but he had recently been on methadone. Judge John Thackray KC told Smith: "These courts are well familiar with the danger of people brandishing knives because things escalate very quickly and unexpectedly and, before you know it, somebody has received a fatal injury, and these courts see that week in, week out. "Fortunately, there were no injuries.

" The witness was entitled to feel safe and secure in his own home. Smith was "giving him the eye and staring him out" while warning him: "Snitches get stitches" during the threat. "This was a serious offence because the administration of justice would not operate smoothly if people were able to deal with allegations made against them by simply making threats, as you made," said Judge Thackray.

"Your brother must have been terrified as you were chasing him through the streets with these knives. Neighbours were extremely frightened and it was worrying for them. He felt very wary and worried about what he had seen.

" Smith had been given a suspended prison sentence in 2018 for possessing a blade. He breached a suspended sentence in July 2023. "You have had numerous chances from the courts," said Judge Thackray.

Smith, who had been on bail, was jailed for two years and three months..