Teenager screamed and ran away after drunken Dorset man pulled out knife

Dylan Simon Mariuse Minty, aged 38, agreed to meet with a local woman at Maiden Newton train station to ‘thrash things out’ after he repeatedly called her and called her a ‘prostitute’ and a ‘slut’ in person and over Facebook Messenger calls.

Prosecuting, Andrew Newman, told Weymouth Magistrates’ Court how Minty wanted to meet the victim at his mother’s house, but the victim wanted to meet at a public place with cameras for her own safety.

The pair met at 7.30pm on July 29, 2020, where the victim, who was with her 18-year-old daughter and dog at the station, described seeing a ‘staggering’ Minty.

This is when he suddenly pulled out an eight-inch knife, which the prosecution noted was a ‘highly dangerous weapon’ and caused ‘serious alarm and distress’ to others.

Dylan Simon Mariuse Minty wielded a knife towards a mum and daughter at Maiden Newton train station in July 2020. He was handed a suspended jail sentence. Picture: Dorset Echo

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Referring to the victim's statement, Mr Newman said: “He was on a bench rolling a cigarette and I could see he was high and his eyes were bloodshot.

“Through at the time he seemed quite calm, but one second later he was called me a slag then apologised to me.

“Suddenly out of nowhere, he said ‘f*** this s***’ and pulled out a knife from his trousers.

“I stood still and I was in shock and my daughter screamed and ran away.

“My partner pushed me away and asked him (Minty) to drop the knife. He put a jumper on it to ensure he didn’t get his prints on it.”

The police were called by the victim’s partner and officers quickly arrived at the train station to arrest Minty.

CCTV broadcast in the court showed the victim with her daughter and their dog. Minty, who was sitting on a bench, suddenly stood up with the knife in his hand as the victim’s daughter ran away.

Outside Maiden Newton train station. Picture: Google

The victim’s partner then appears to ask Minty to drop the knife before he carefully picked up the knife and walked away from Minty.

The next clip showed two police officers arrived to arrest Minty, with one armed with a taser. A male police officer appeared to ask him to drop to the ground, where a female officer handcuffed him.

Minty, of North Road in Maiden Newton, pleaded guilty to possession of a knife in a public place as well as use threatening or abusive words or behaviour towards a woman.

Mitigating, Lee Christmas, noted that Minty has apologised and how he confessed the event was ‘fuelled by alcohol’.

He said: “What you have is that in terms of his mitigation, is that you have a guilty plea at first opportunity.

“You have a lack of offending as you will see there is a large gap of 16 years since his last offence.

“What you will see from the probation report is the issues this man has to deal with. What the probation report says about him is that he shares commendable insight about his problems with drink and has engaged with Reach.

“You have someone that has recognised that he has a problem with alcohol, and wants to deal with it.”

Mr Newman believed the case should be moved to Bournemouth Crown Court due to the level of severity of the offences and harm to others, in which Mr Christmas disagreed with. The Magistrates retired to discuss this matter, but the chair of the bench, Robert Ford, believed it was fit for himself to sentence Minty at the court.

Addressing Minty, Mr Ford said: “You deliberately took a blade to a public place and that is not acceptable.

“You could have killed somebody, you do understand that?” Minty simply replied: “Yes”.

Minty was issued a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and must undergo alcohol treatment requirement for up to 20 days.

Minty was also ordered to pay a £128 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs. The knife was also ordered to be destroyed.