Two men who cruised around Accrington streets in a car loaded with a Samurai sword, knives, baseball bats and golf clubs have been jailed.
Post Office worker Aftab Sarwar and takeaway employee Adeel Iqbal were stopped on Perth Street after their back VW Polo car had been reported to the police following an earlier disturbance.
However when the police tried to arrest driver Sarwar and passenger Iqbal they were mobbed by 70 local residents who were ‘shouting and heckling’ and ‘putting phones in their faces’, Burnley Crown Court heard.
When the car was later searched officers found a Samurai sword, knives, baseball bats, golf clubs and £420 worth of cannabis in the boot.
Sarwar, 29, of Garbett Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to affray, possessing offensive weapons and cannabis.
The father-of-one who works as a counter clerk at the main Post Office in Accrington, was jailed for nine months.
Iqbal, 21, of Higher Antley Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to affray and was jailed for six months.
The part-time takeaway worker had applied to change his plea to not guilty.
However this was rejected by Recorder Craig Sephton QC.
Prosecutor Neville Biddle said the incident started shortly after 8pm on July 2, 2014, when a member of the public spotted a man armed with a metal bar chasing another man down Royds Street shouting ‘what the **** are you running for? Come on then’.
The court heard how the offender then got into the VW Polo which later arrived on Perth Street.
Mr Biddle said: “It’s clear a very ugly incident was occurring on that street at that time.
“As the police were speaking to the occupants a large number of people came from surrounding houses with as many as 70 people there at one point.”
A statement from one officer read out in court told how they were being ‘filmed and heckled’ and the ‘atmosphere felt hostile’.
Sentencing, Recorder Sephton QC said: “You were both partied to this disgraceful behaviour and both charged with affray.
“There was a serious risk that there would be a serious public order problem. You had offensive weapons in an explosive situation.
“You both pleaded guilty at the last possible minute before the trial.
“There’s no other sentence appropriate in this case other than custody.”
Defence barrister Mark Stuart said ‘there will be consequences’ for Aftab Sarwar’s actions.
He told the court: “It’s ridiculous for a defendant who’s now 29, and who was 27 at the time, to have got involved for the first time ever in any group activity.
“He had then, as he’s had for some time, a decent job.
“He works for the Post Office as a counter clerk at the main Post Office in Accrington.
“He’s been there for eight years. It’s obviously a responsible job and one that requires honesty and he knows there will be consequences for him at the end of these proceedings. Fortunately enough even though at least one weapon was produced on the street no-one was injured and no-one has complained about the matter.”
The court heard how Iqbal, who has a previous conviction for robbery, tried to change his plea to not guilty.
However the judge said Iqbal ‘fully knew what he was doing when he pleaded guilty’.
Stuart Kaufman, defending Iqbal, said he was ‘immature and needed to change his ways’.
He told the court how Iqbal has not re-offended since 2014.
