A knife carrier was given a shock after falling asleep in the back of a taxi and being woken up by police.
The driver of the taxi called the police after noticing their sleeping passenger had a kitchen knife in his possession.
Response officers arrived at an address in Stapleford, around 7.15 pm on Sunday (13 October) to find Lewis Thompson fast asleep.
A knife was clearly visible on the backseat, with a quick-thinking officer reaching through an open window and taking it without waking Thompson.
He wasn’t given any longer than that to rest, however, with police waking him up at that point and pulling him from the car.
Thompson responded to this by assaulting officers in attendance and subjecting them to verbal abuse.
He was found with cannabis in his possession too, before a quick check of the police system also revealed he was wanted in connection with an assault.
This took place a few months earlier on 29 June, with Thompson punching another man in a Nottingham city centre bar – leaving him with facial injuries.
He was later charged with possessing a knife in a public place, assault, assaulting an emergency worker, and resisting arrest.
Thompson was additionally charged with possessing cannabis, as well as using threatening/abusive words/behaviour to cause harassment, alarm, or distress.
He pleaded guilty to each offence at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (15 October) and has been remanded in custody.
Thompson, of no fixed address, is due to be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on 26 November.
Sergeant James King, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “It’s fair to say Thompson wasn’t too impressed about being woken up by police and placed under arrest.
“The violence and aggression he demonstrated while this was taking place were completely unacceptable – as was his decision to be carrying a knife that night.
“There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to ever carry a kitchen knife out in public, as Thompson was doing, for the obvious reason that it puts people in danger.
“The taxi driver did the right thing by calling the police when they saw he had a weapon.
“It also turned out that Thompson was responsible for carrying out an assault a few months earlier, so this proved to be a great result all round.
“We’re pleased to see he’s owned up to his actions and look forward to seeing what sentence is handed down to him by the court.”
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