Romanian man admits knife, theft and drug offences in Bury St Edmunds

A Romanian who took a knife into a Bury St Edmunds nightclub did so ‘partly due to his ignorance of English law’, a court has heard.

Constantin Adrian Cedica, 23, of Corsbie Close, Bury, pleaded guilty to knife possession, theft by finding and possession of the Class B drug cannabis at Bury Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Prosecuting, Tess Mann said on October 17 police were called to reports of a man with a knife and arrested Cedica outside The Grapes pub, in Bury, with a 7.5cm bladed lock knife in his right pocket.

They also found a stolen purse down the front of his jeans and a tin with rolling papers, a plastic grinder and wrap with 1.13 grams of herbal cannabis in his left pocket.

In mitigation, Claire Lockwood said Cedica, a Romanian who moved to the UK three months ago, used the knife at work and had it on him because he had gone straight out after his shift to celebrate with a colleague who was moving to Canada.

She said: “He says when he was leaving LP nightclub, he saw a purse on the floor and picked it up.

“In relation to the cannabis, he found the tin with the cannabis in it in the toilet at LP but he accepts he opened the tin, clearly saw what was inside and smoked some of the cannabis,” she added.

In her pre-sentence report, probation officer Marie Bluett said Cedica preferred to use his own knife during the 50-60 hours a week he worked as a kitchen porter at The Angel Hotel, in Bury.

“In my opinion, he made a mistake that night, partly due to his ignorance of English law,” she said.

Cedica received a 12-month community order with 90 hours unpaid work and was ordered to pay a courts charge of £180, costs of £40 and a £60 victim surcharge.

Magistrates also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs, paraphernalia and knife.