A convicted sex offender who brandished a Stanley knife at would-be vigilantes who confronted him in a crowded shopping street has been locked up for a year today.
Homeless restaurant worker Roland Coueta, 24, pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court (pictured) to possessing an offensive weapon in the town's bustling marketplace - Surrey Street on July 2.
Prosecutor Mr. Andrew Mazibrada told the court it was 1 pm when a concerned member of the public pointed out to police a group of five black males standing outside a Jamaican food shop after spotting one of them wielding a blade.
Police approached and French Guyana-born Coueta - who was ordered to sign-on the sex offender's register for 10 years - was seen striding towards his accusers in an "aggressive manner" and shouting: "You think you're a big man."
Officers drew C.S. gas and the defendant dropped the knife - which had an extra-long blade - without resistance.
Father-of-two Coueta told police he grabbed the knife from a shop counter for his own protection when approached by an angry group who knew his background.
"One of them attacked his house in 2008," said the defendant's lawyer Miss Adiatu Tejan. "He is mortified at being here after trying to get his life back together."
Judge C.C.D Lindsay QC told Coueta, who was on bail accused of domestic violence at the time of the offence: "This offence is serious. You had a Stanley knife and the blade was seen by a member of the public."
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