BY JAMES SIMONS
A deaf man of 80 years of age has been slapped with his first ever criminal conviction for brandishing an offensive weapon- a knife in this case.
Dennis Delsol stood outside the William Hill in Harrow Road, wielding the large kitchen knife following an argument at the bookies earlier in the day.
The Old Bailey heard the incident took place on October 27 last year at 10pm.
The pensioner, who lives in Maida Vale, admitted possessing an offensive weapon in a public place but was given a 12-month conditional discharge by Judge Alistair McCreath , who considered the defendant’s age and previous good character.
In a humble delivery of a damning verdict, the judge told him:
I could give you a lecture about how wrong it is to go around with knives in your hand however angry you might feel.
“But I am not sure that somebody like me, a bit younger than you, has got any place giving a man of your age lectures because you are later this year to celebrate your 80th birthday.
“Here you are, nearly 80, before the court for the very first time in your life.”
The disgraceful misdemeanor occurred over a disappointing result relating a gambling incident that was unfavorable to the old man, who really should know better than to go mad over a bad result from gambling. Mr. Delsol was said to have since stopped gambling, but should we really believe his lawyer’s words stated under the instructions of a guilty defendant? Judge Mcreath said:
“Whatever it was that led you to behave as you did it seems to me that there are people around you who are helping you in such a way as to make that sort of thing unlikely again.”
“I do not suppose it is something you will ever do again”. The defendant apologized audibly from the dock, but sorry simply isn’t good enough. Even for a deaf man of 80, he should have known better.