KNIFE YOB SCARES DRINKERS

7:50am Wednesday 27th August 2008

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A DRINKER armed with a knife was kicked out of a Northwich town centre pub on Saturday night.

The incident left Bank Holiday Weekend revellers shocked and frightened but police are reassuring residents that knife crime is rare in Northwich.

I’m not soft but it scared me and seeing something like that makes you sober up extremely quickly.

Fern Wright

Fern Wright, 23, who was enjoying a night out with friends, saw the man arguing with bouncers as they threw him out of The Anderton at 11pm.

She said: “I’ve never seen anything like that in Northwich and I found it shocking.

“I’m not soft but it scared me and seeing something like that makes you sober up extremely quickly.

“I always found drugs in town quite shocking but that’s so commonplace now it’s stopped being as shocking.

“You become numbed to it but that’s the first time I’ve seen a knife in town.”

She added: “It makes you think – so many people might be carrying knives, you just never know.”

Fern described the knife as a folded up flick knife with a palm-length handle.

She said it sounded like the man had been showing off with it in the Witton Street pub when he was ejected by the bouncers.

“The bouncers were really relaxed and handled it really well,” she said.

“But how do you deal with someone you know has a knife in their hand and could do anything with it?”

Det Sgt Henry Platten, of Northwich neighbourhood policing unit, said: “Knife crime and the carrying of knives is something which has been highlighted across the country in recent months and is something we take extremely seriously.

“The Criminal Justice Act 1988 made it an offence to carry a bladed article in a public place with a maximum sentence of four years imprisonment.

“We will take positive action against anyone who is caught carrying a knife, or other bladed article, in a public place and will not hesitate to put offenders before the courts.

“Thankfully incidents involving knives are extremely rare in Northwich and the surrounding area, but this does not mean we can be complacent.”

Anyone who sees someone with a knife or anyone acting suspiciously should ring Cheshire Police on 0845 458 0000.