Scarborough man jailed after lunging at man with scissors

Jerome Christian Clough, 30, of Prince of Wales Terrace in Scarborough, appeared at York Magistrates’ Court yesterday (May 11) after an attack which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 26 weeks in jail for affray, with a further eight weeks for possessing a bladed article.

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Clough was seen on CCTV during a heated conversation, before taking a pair of scissors from his pocket and lunging at another man on Saturday, May 9.

Although the victim did not make a formal complaint, North Yorkshire Police were made aware of the incident by CCTV operators by 6.38am and arrested Clough two minutes later.  He was then charged based on the CCTV evidence.

Detective Constable Alfie Thomlinson, the investigating officer, said: “Clough was seen in broad daylight – as the town was waking up and busy with workers, residents and visitors – clearly lunging at a man with a pair of scissors.

“The swift action of the CCTV operators followed by the immediate response of officers on the ground meant he was detained within two minutes of the report coming in to us.

“By the following morning, he was charged and remanded by detectives working with the Crown Prosecution Service and by Monday morning he was sent to jail by Magistrates.”

In his police interview, Clough claimed the scissors were for art and craft purposes and that he was demonstrating a stabbing technique he had seen in a video.

DC Thomlinson said: “Hopefully he can now take time to reflect on his behaviour and understand how serious this violent act could have been if contact was made with the man.

“Violent behaviour involving blades will simply not be tolerated on the streets of North Yorkshire.”