An 18-year-old man has been sentenced for possessing a kitchen knife in public and for two assaults on railway staff.
Lewis Flanagan, of Newcourt Way, Exeter, appeared at Exeter Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article, assault by beating and common assault.
The offences relate to two separate incidents from June and September last year.
The court heard that on June 6, just after 6pm, Flanagan attempted to board a train at Exeter Central station without a ticket. A railway employee challenged him, but he ignored her and got onto the train while speaking on his phone. When challenged again, he pushed past the employee, pushing her into the wall of the train.
Flanagan got off the train at Digby and Sowton. While crossing the railway bridge, he looked down and saw another ticket inspector. He swore at him and spat onto the platform below.
On another occasion, on September 10, police received a call from a member of the public reporting that a male had been seen passing a large kitchen knife from a bag to another male during a physical altercation involving six men.
The witness heard the knife drop but did not see where it landed. Police later searched the area and found the seven-inch blade hidden under a parked taxi. Flanagan was identified as the person carrying it.
The court heard he has one previous conviction from 2024 for threatening a person with an offensive weapon.
In mitigation, Miss McArthur said her client was a “vulnerable young lad in with the wrong crowd”. She said he had been carrying the knife for his own safety and that it had not been used in the altercation.
Flanagan has ADHD and Miss McArthur said he accepts he struggles with anger issues, though these have improved as he has grown older. She said there was a background of exploitation by older males and asked the court to give him the chance to work with probation and use this as a turning point away from criminal behaviour.
The bench told Flanagan that a community order was “more in your best interests” than a custodial sentence. He was given a two-year community order with 25 rehabilitation activity days, an electronic monitoring tag for five months and 100 hours of unpaid work.
Sentencing him, magistrates said: “You shouldn’t have acted the way you did, you shouldn’t have treated people the way you did. And you know you shouldn’t have had a knife. We hope you will get something from probation. If you have any concerns, talk to people, don’t bottle it up.
“You are now at a cusp. You can go one of two ways. You can get on with it and get a job like the rest of us, or you can continue this behaviour, and you will realise when you’re 40 that you have spent half of your life in prison. You don’t want that.”
In lieu of a surcharge, Flanagan was ordered to pay £100 compensation to the ticket inspector at Exeter Central and £50 to the other member of staff at Digby and Sowton.
*This story was produced via the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Criminal Justice Court Reporting scheme.
