Known gang member jailed for more than two years after he was spotted on CCTV with a machete in Southsea

A 20 year-old man heavily involved in gang activity has been jailed for more than two years after he was spotted on CCTV with a machete in Southsea

Bornwell Third Hakaperi of Palmerston Road in Bournemouth who has a string of previous knife offences admitted possession of a bladed article in a public place and possession of cocaine when he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court in September. He was sentenced to two years and three months in prison at the same court on Friday 1 December.

On Saturday 26 August at 03:21am Hakaperi was seen on CCTV operated by Portsmouth City Council to be waving a large machete around in the area of Albert Rd in Southsea.

Police were called and Hakaperi was arrested on a nearby street where he was found to have in his possession six small bags of white powder and ID showing his details.

Subsequent enquiries confirmed that the powder was cocaine. A member of the public located the machete in their wheelie bin the next morning and CCTV was secured of Hakaperi disposing of the weapon.

Hakaperi who has previously been cleared of alleged knife offences including wounding with intent of a 15 year old who was stabbed on Southsea common back in July 2021 and another incident on Elm Grove Portsmouth in July 2021 has finally been brought to justice.

Chief Inspector Paul Markham said: “Whilst this offence took place in the early hours of a Saturday morning, Albert Road is still a busy part of the city at that time of night, especially when you consider that this was the same weekend on which Victorious festival was taking place. Thankfully no-one was hurt and officers located Hakaperi quickly following some excellent partnership working with our colleagues from Portsmouth City Council.

“We regularly make proactive efforts to target knife carriers and remove weapons from the streets of the city. This work is ongoing, and we hope that this sentence sends a clear message to anyone thinking of carrying a knife that there are serious consequences when they make that decision to pick up a weapon.

“We continue to work alongside a number of agencies in our response to keeping people safe within Portsmouth’s Night Time Economy, including Portsmouth City Council, The Police and Crime Commissioner’s Violent Crime Reduction Unit, Street Pastors, South Central Ambulance Service, CCTV staff and security and staff at all of our licensed premises”.