Halifax knifeman who 'wanted to kill a copper' jailed by judge

Karl Gee moved to Halifax from Salford to make a fresh start after serving a four-year jail term for wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, but despite making efforts to address his problems with alcohol he was arrested last month after he brandished a knife at a taxi office worker.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Osman Hussain was having a cigarette outside the office on Carlton Street when Gee confronted him on the pavement in the early hours.

Gee, who had been drinking, lunged towards Mr Hussain with a knife in his hand and the incident was captured on CCTV footage which was shown to the judge. When Gee walked off to his home in Trinity Street he was followed by another cabbie in his car and police were called to the area.

Gee was aggressive towards the officers and after being taken to the police station he continued to make threats which included references to killer Raoul Moat who shot a police officer in 2010.

Prosecutor Robert Galley said Gee told officers that he would be a hero when he went back into prison adding: ”I’ve wanted to kill a copper for a long time.”

Gee appeared in court via a video link to Leeds Prison and admitted charges of making a threat to kill a police officer, threatening a person with a knife and affray.

Solicitor advocate John Bottomley, for Gee, said his client realised he was something of a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde sort of character and he had no idea why he had confronted Mr Hussain that night. The court heard that Gee had been drinking and taking medication and Mr Bottomley said the defendant could not remember the events.

The Recorder of Bradford Judge Roger Thomas QC said Gee presented the court with a very troubling and worrying picture because of his offending.

He noted that the latest offending took place the day after Gee had left a detoxification programme because he couldn’t hack it.

“You actually said you had wanted to kill a copper for a long time and in a number of different ways you were saying that’s exactly what you would do were you to be released,” said the judge.

Gee was sentenced to four years in prison for the offence of threatening to kill an officer with an extended licence period of two years.