Former soldier may face jail over samurai sword (From Gazette)

10:00pm Wednesday 25th March 2009

AN ex-soldier who brandished a samurai sword during a booze-fuelled domestic row has been warned he could face prison.

Bruce Gibbins, 32, became “overwrought” after an argument at Abbot’s Road, Colchester, last August.

He brandished a samurai sword with an 18-inch blade in the street after being attacked, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Two other men had also been charged in relation to the incident.

Ian Boyes, prosecuting, said: “This defendant had no excuse to go out on the street with such an item, regardless of what happened to him before.”

Gibbins, of Avignon Close, Colchester, admitted having a samurai sword in public.

He was already serving a community order at the time and had two previous convictions for violence.

Nneka Akudolu, mitigating, said Gibbins was due to become a father in July.

The former soldier had served in the Royal Engineers for three years until 1995, but hadn’t worked since the sword incident.

Miss Akudolu said he suffered from bipolar disorder and was being treated for depression.

Sentencing was adjourned for reports, but Gibbins was warned he could face a maximum of nine months in jail.

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