A funeral at York Crematorium was thrown into chaos when a drunken man turned up with a knife and threatened to stab one of the mourners.
Matthew Robson, 19, was at the crematorium ostensibly to pay his own respects but used the solemn occasion to torment two sisters and threaten a male mourner who went to their aid, telling him he had a knife and that he would “shank you up”, York magistrates heard.
Prosecutor Alison Whiteley said that one of the named sisters, who Robson would go on to assault during the funeral service, was four months’ pregnant and her sibling was his former partner.
She said that Robson was a late arrival at the cremation on Bishopthorpe Road – just down the road from Bishopthorpe Palace, the home of the Archbishop of York – on the morning of 16 April.
She said the two sisters were dreading Robson’s arrival and in a state of some anxiety.
When they walked into the crematorium, they were initially relieved not to see Robson who had recently split up with the female victim’s sister.
However, five minutes later, they saw him arrive on the other side of the room – drunk.
When the coffin was brought into the crematorium, Robson started hugging the victim’s sister “really tightly” and moving her around, “making everybody feel uncomfortable”.
One of the men at the funeral service tried to intervene and told Robson to “stop acting like that”.
But this only made Robson angry and he started to threaten the man, telling him he had a knife and warning him: “I’ll shank you up.”
“As soon as she heard mention of the knife, (the female assault victim) got away from (Robso, especially because she was pregnant,” said Ms Whiteley.
After paying their respects, the mourners filed out of the crematorium where police, having received a report about a man with a knife at a funeral service, arrested Robson.
They searched him and found a flick knife with a locking blade in his trouser pocket.
“Whilst he was being arrested, Mr Robson did appear to be under the influence of something and he was aggressive,” said Ms Whiteley.
In police interview, Robson told officers he had found the knife in a hedge in York in the early hours of the morning of the funeral service and “decided to keep it” because he was drunk.
He was charged with assaulting the victim, carrying a lock knife at the crematorium and two further offences of failing to surrender to the custody of the court.
Robson, of East Parade, Harrogate, failed to turn up for his first court appearance at York Magistrates’ Court on 20 May after being released on police bail.
He was arrested the same day on a warrant and was returned to court on 28 May, when he entered guilty pleas to all matters.
However, having been released on court bail, he then failed to show up for sentence on 25 June.
He finally appeared for sentence yesterday (30 July) wearing a mask.
When the court clerk asked him why he was wearing the face covering, Robson replied: “Personal reasons.”
He then told magistrates he was wearing the mask because of his “mental health”.
In a statement read out by the prosecution, the assault victim said she had been traumatised by Robson’s behaviour which was “not acceptable” at a funeral service when she was “remembering someone who had passed on”.
The court heard that Robson had a previous conviction for carrying a knife and another for robbery.
His solicitor James Dixon said that Robson had failed to appear in court on two previous dates due to mental-health problems which meant he was “unable to leave his flat”.
He said that Robson, who was currently living in supported accommodation, had been diagnosed with autism and was suffering with depression and anxiety.
The magistrates’ bench said that despite the seriousness of the offences, they were prepared to suspend the inevitable and mandatory prison sentence for carrying a knife.
He received a jail sentence of 52 weeks, equivalent to 12 months, but this was suspended for 18 months.
He was ordered to pay a total financial penalty of £272 including a victim surcharge of £187 and was told he must complete 20 rehabilitation-activity days.