Southend: Patrolling officer catches knife offender

An officer who returned to her patrols shortly after taking part in a community event focused on knife crime caught an offender carrying a seven-inch blade.

Acting Sergeant Carly Boitoult, of Southend’s town centre team, had engaged with children at an event near the Knife Angel – a sculpture raising awareness of the impact of knife crime – on Thursday 4 July.

At around 5.40pm, she resumed her patrols of Southend High Street, when she was approached by a member of the public.

The member of the public advised her of suspected drug dealing activity taking place nearby.

Sgt Boitoult approached a group of males, with one of their number fleeing on foot.

This man, Rashid Yousefi, 28, of Windermere Road, Southend, was detained and searched under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Due to suspicions he may have concealed or discarded evidence nearby, officers swiftly searched the area and conducted CCTV enquiries.

This revealed the Yousefi had thrown a knife onto a nearby roof while fleeing our officer.

This weapon was recovered and revealed to be a large kitchen knife.

Yousefi was arrested and later charged with possession of a knife in a public place.

At Southend Magistrates’ Court on Friday 5 July, he admitted the charge and was jailed for 26 weeks.

'We're always on our guard when it comes to knife crime'

Sgt Boitoult said:

“As community policing officers, we are always alert to the priority of tackling knife crime.
“Yousefi thought he could conceal the fact he was carrying a weapon. We were quick to detain him, search the area and prove him wrong.
“The carrying of weapons often goes hand-in-hand with wider offending such as drug dealing and we work hard to act upon concerns over anti-social behaviour and suspicious activity in Southend town centre.
“There is never an acceptable excuse for carrying a knife.
“The public are all too aware, as are we, that the impact of knife crime can be devastating.
“Working with our partners on educating young people on the reality of knife crime, and through raising awareness through initiatives like the Knife Angel structure, we can look towards the root cause of the issues around the possession of weapons.”

Action aimed at driving down high-harm crime in south Essex has seen knife-related offending fall steadily across the area.

In Southend, officers work alongside Southend-on-Sea City Council, the British Transport Police, the c2c railway and seafront businesses as part of Operation Union.

This sees officers maintain a constant presence during the busy summer months, providing a visible deterrent to anyone who misbehaves and diffusing any potential flashpoints.

Knife-enabled crime is down by 20% in Southend in the 12 months to date, when compared with the same period last year.

Across this period, there have been 215 knife-enabled offences recorded.

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