Crown Court Judge James Sampson has praised a Grosvenor Casino Nottingham doorman for his coolness in the face of a 20-minute altercation with a knife-wielding teenager outside the casino on Maid Marian Way.
got the teen to keep talking
Nottingham Crown Court heard that 19-year-old Nadir Mokadeh lost his temper and whipped out a knife after being refused entry over lack of ID. Judge Sampson commended the doorman, Ismail Hamza, who he said got the teen to keep talking despite his “loutish behavior.”
“You pulled a knife on a man who was just doing his job and you repeatedly threatened him.”
While calmly maintaining a conversation with the suspect, Hamza managed to get the knife from him after convincing the drunken teen to swap it for his mobile phone. According to Nottinghamshire Live, police arrived shortly thereafter to arrest Mokadeh.
The defendant pleaded guilty to threatening another person with a bladed article in public, for which Judge Sampson handed down “a 14-month term in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for 21 months.” Mokadeh must also do 15 hours voluntary work, attend 15 rehabilitation sessions, and pay £150 ($196) towards legal costs.
The judge said that while the teen’s actions were clearly grave, he considered the incident a “monumental mistake” because of Mokadeh’s age and lack of prior convictions.
“Had you been an adult I would have had no hesitation in sending you to prison.”
