Man jailed for 10 years for knife attack in Portsmouth nightclub smoking area
A man has been jailed for 10 years for attacking four people with a knife at a nightclub following a row in the smoking area.
Charlie Ellins, 20, of Braintree Road, was arguing with a man in his 20s at Tokyo Joe's on Guildhall Walk in Portsmouth in November.
Ellins slashed his arm and then stabbed a 19-year-old man in the chest.
A third victim, a man in his 20s, was stabbed in the thigh.
Emergency services were called and all three men were given medical attention by security staff.
Ellins was detained by security staff from Tokyo Joe's, and other nearby security staff, outside the nightclub shortly before police arrived.
While detaining Ellins, a man in his 30s was grazed in the side of his head with the knife.
Ellins was identified by one of the victims on the club's scanner system.
Ellins was arrested and charged with three counts of Section 18 wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
He appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday, March 23, having previously pleaded guilty to three counts of Section 18 wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
A 15 year old girl, who was arrested on suspicion of common assault and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress in connection with this incident, has been released from police custody but remains under investigation while our enquiries continue.
Police Staff Investigator Nikki Ginn, who led the investigation, said: "This was a really concerning act of violence which saw four people, not known to Ellins, injured due to the fact that he had gone out that evening armed with a knife.
"Fortunately, the victims did not suffer life-threatening or life-changing injuries but the consequences could have been far worse.
"I hope that today’s sentence sends out a clear message that violence of any kind will not be tolerated and we will do everything we can to take these offenders off our streets and keep our communities safe."
Portsmouth Chief Inspector Pete Smith said: "Carrying a knife will simply never be tolerated by police.
"Making that decision to pick up a bladed weapon creates the very real risk that you could kill or seriously injure someone.
"This case makes that shocking reality clear. The victims in this case survived the injuries inflicted by Ellins, but the outcome could have been significantly worse.
"We regularly make proactive efforts to target knife carriers and remove weapons from the streets. This work won’t stop, and we hope that anyone thinking of carrying recognises that there are serious consequences both for themselves and others when they make that decision to pick up a weapon.
"I would like to praise the actions of the security and venue staff involved in the immediate response to this incident and offer my sincere thanks to them, their bravery prevented the very real possibility of further people being injured that night.
"We continue to work alongside a number of agencies on Op Rigging, which is our response to keeping people safe within Portsmouth’s Night Time Economy, including Portsmouth City Council’s Violent Crime Reduction Unit and their licensing and environmental health teams, Street Pastors, South Central Ambulance Service, CCTV staff and security and staff at all of our licensed premises.
"We urge communities to keep reporting intelligence around knife crime so that together we can continue to tackle this threat in society. To do this people can call us on 101 or report online.
"Alternatively, if you have concerns or information about violent gangs or individuals in your community, but don't want to go to the police, you can tell fearless.org what you know 100% anonymously.
"We host a webpage aimed at supporting professionals and parents with information and resources to help educate, guide and support children and young people in keeping safe. For information go to https://www.safe4me.co.uk/."