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Bouncer jailed for putting knife to man's throat

An off-duty nightclub bouncer who held a knife to a man’s throat and headbutted a police officer who tried to intervene has been sentenced to 12 months behind bars.

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Wolverhampton Crown Court, where Colmas Musafa was jailed

Colmas Musafa, of Wolverhampton, who was studying at Brighton University at the time, had become involved in a disturbance after a customer was evicted from a restaurant, a court heard.

The 27-year-old was seen on CCTV cameras to ‘manhandle’ someone, then place a knife across his neck, said Mr Anthony Cartin, prosecuting.

A special constable who tried to help was pushed and kicked by Musafa, who also produced a hammer and smashed a shop window sign.

When police arrived on the scene, he headbutted a sergeant and and also attacked another officer.

'I will find you'

All the time Musafa was ranting and shouting 'I will find you, remember my face', Mr Cartin told Wolverhampton Crown Court.

He claimed he could not remember what happened in police interviews afterwards but later pleaded guilty to five charges – affray, possession of a knife and hammer and two counts of assaulting police officers – and the case was sent to the crown court but never heard.

However the offences came to light in July this year, 18 months after the Brighton incident, when he was identified on CCTV cameras carrying a knife following a report of a disturbance at flats in Wednesfield.

The court heard he was visiting his uncle for a family celebration and that police were directed to the apartment by CCTV operators who had seen him cross the car park carrying a knife before placing it down his trousers.

Musafa, of Purslet Road, Moseley, pleaded not guilty to a charge of possessing a knife in the later offence, claiming he only produced the knife to disarm someone.

Defending, Ms Naomi Nelson-Cotie said Musafa, who was 25 at the time of the first offences, had not caused serious injury to any of his victims.

He had gone to the Brighton restaurant after his nightclub shift and had recognised someone he had thrown out of the club earlier.

Musafa lost his temper and pulled out the knife to scare the other man, the court heard.

He had one previous conviction for affray when he was 16.

Judge Jinder Singh Boora said he had received some ‘excellent’ submissions about Musafa, including a letter from the defendant himself which showed him to be 'articulate and intelligent'.

However in the more serious first offence he had ‘lost complete control’ and that could only be dealt with by way of an immediate prison sentence.

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