A man has been jailed for threatening a man with a gun and viciously assaulting him in Crawley.
On Sunday 11 August, police were called to a report of a stabbing near the Grand Bay, Pelham Place. The victim, Manuelito Andre suffered serious injuries to his arm and was taken to hospital.
Andre claimed to officers that he had approached someone about money owed to him, who then chased him and stabbed him
But after CCTV inquiries, it emerged that Andre had gone to the man’s location and threatened him before he was stabbed.
Andre approached a man in his thirties, threatened him with a firearm and attacked him. It was a sustained attack, lasting a number of minutes. He suffered minor injuries during the incident.
While Andre was in hospital, he was arrested and taken to custody on Wednesday 14 August. He was charged and remanded into custody
He pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court on Thursday 12 September before Judge Mark Van Der Zwart and was subsequently sentenced at Brighton Crown Court on Friday 25 October.
Andre, 25, of no fixed address, was jailed for two years and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £187.
After an investigation into Andre’s injuries, it became clear that the victim did not have a knife until he was able to grab it while being attacked and his actions were deemed to be in self-defence.
CID Supervisor Oli Robinson said: “This was a complex investigation in which CCTV showed different events to what we were told.
“The CCTV evidence was key to Andre’s conviction. It showed how the victim was cornered into an area where he was able to grab an item to defend himself.
“Due to his behaviour, Andre is now behind bars and rightly serving his sentence.”
