Leeds man screamed in the street while armed with large knife
He was helped by his concerned neighbour
A man suffering from a severe mental illness has avoided immediate custody after he was stood screaming in the street while holding a large knife.
Orashia Edwards was handed a suspended sentence at Leeds Crown Court this week after admitting possessing a bladed article in public.
On April 14, his neighbour, who lives opposite Edwards on Nippet Lane in Burmantofts, heard him outside.
He was holding the large blade and shouting: “You are not going to do this to me.”
The concerned neighbour dialled 999. Minutes later he heard Edwards shouting: “You are not going to take me.”
The neighbour left his own home and went outside in the hope of calming him down.
He found 45-year-old Edwards in his block of flats and he immediately calmed down when he saw the neighbour.
Officers arrived and arrested Edwards and the large knife was found in his flat. Edwards gave a no-comment interview at the police station.
He has no previous convictions.
Little mitigation was offered by his barrister, Matthew Stewart, after Judge Penelope Belcher said she would not lock Edwards up.
It was acknowledged that he suffers from a “psychotic mental illness”.
She gave him a 19-week sentence, suspended for 12 months. She ordered he complete a nine-month alcohol-treatment requirement, 15 rehabilitation days with probation and put him on a six-month GPS tracker.