Chesterfield man pulled “fearsome” “filleting knife” on Tesco security guard

Carlos Millan, 40, had become homeless after his wife and children left him when his behaviour spiralled out of control and took the wine to make himself “feel better”, a court heard.

Heroin addict Millan, who had let his prescription for antidepressent drugs sertraline and amitriptyline run out, was seen with a large bruise and “vacant” expression on his face as he brandished the “fearsome weapon” at a security guard who asked him to hand over the huge knife.

Prosecutor Almas Ben-Aribia told Derby Crown Court how on Sunday, February 6 at 4pm, after putting the knife back in its sheath, Millan ran off and had to be arrested “violently” by armed response officers in the store.

She described how prior to brandishing the long blade Millan had dropped a scalpel on the floor but refused to give up the bigger knife.

Millan’s solicitor William Bennett said his client had run out of his medication – treatment for long-term depression and anxiety – resulting in “very clouded thinking and in some cases “psychosis”.

On the day of the incident his face was bruised after having had his cheekbone broken prior to entering the store.

Judge Martin Hurst told Millan: “You were in Tesco stealing wine and have had a problem with class A drugs for a number of years.

"You were drinking wine in the shop – you dropped the scalpel but what you should have done is thrown the other item on the floor.

"It was a fearsome weapon – what I would describe as a filleting knife - and the security guard understandably would have been terrified.

"One only has to think for a moment what it could have turned into.

"Tesco on a Sunday afternoon is highly likely to contain vulnerable people – if I had been a Tesco and seen it I would have felt very vulnerable.

"You were out and about in Chesterfield in a shop with a lethal weapon which you were prepared to get out and threaten a security guard with.

"You made a number of complaints about not getting enough help but that’s not an excuse for committing these offences.”

The judge told Millan he had not tried to renew his medication prescription, thinking “everything will be fine”.

He added: “As a result your wife left you and took your children and you became homeless, you were injured and decided to take drugs and alcohol to make yourself feel better.”

Millan’s latest offence came after an attack on a female delivery driver on New Year’s Eve.

In January Chesterfield Magistrates Court heard Millan smashed his terrified victim’s vehicle window as she sat at the roadside smoking a cigarette while telling her “I’m going to smash you up”.

Millan, formerly of St Augustine’s Drive, Birdholme and on remand at HMP Nottingham, admitted possession of a bladed article in a public place for the Tesco incident.

He was jailed for ten months.

Judge Hurst told him he hoped after his release from prison he could “make it up” with his wife and children.

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