Man caught with knife outside King's Lynn bar given suspended jail term

Door staff spotted a knife drop on the ground as they searched a Lynn man outside a town nightspot, a court heard yesterday.

The item came from the jacket of Donatas Ruzgas as he attempted to get into Mojito Lounge in Broad Street.

Prosecutor Josephine Jones told town magistrates that a member of the door staff signalled to police close by and said: "He's just dropped a weapon."

Miss Jones said CCTV footage showed Ruzgas, 28, kicking away the small black-handled item - referred to by magistrates as a "vegetable knife."

She added: "The defendant, when interviewed, said he had been to a friend's house for a party.

"The friend used the knife to take the cap off a bottle; the defendant did the same.

Ruzgas, of Oak Circle, Gaywood, pleaded guilty to possessing a knife blade in a public place.

Mitigting, Andrew Cogan said: “Mr Ruzgas is mortified by the situation he finds himself in. He tells me it was a simple mistake.

“They each opened a bottle of beer with [the knife] and he just put it into his jacket and forgot about it. He would never normally possess an article of this nature in a public place.”

Mr Cogan told magistrates: “Following a couple of recent [knife crime] incidents in King’s Lynn, no doubt you will be concerned.”

Ruzgas was given a four-month prison term, suspended for 18 months. He was also given a four-month curfew from 7pm-7am on Fridays and Saturdays and ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

Magistrates were dismayed that Ruzgas had not paid towards outstanding court monies for 18 months and a 13-day suspended sentence relating to that matter will continue.