Man jailed after police found knife in bag that he threw over bridge onto train at New Street Station

Jermaine Mubaraka, age 20, of Ashcroft Court, Barnet, London, pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon in a public place at Northampton Crown Court on 17 November 2023.

He will carry out his sentence at a young offenders facility. He was also ordered to pay a £187 victim surcharge.

The incident happened on Friday May 5 this year around 1.30pm when British Transport Police officers noticed Mubaraka acting unusually at Birmingham New Street.

As officers approached him, he ran off towards the city centre and threw a bag over a bridge which landed on top of a train.

Officers caught Mubaraka and recovered the discarded bag which contained a Rambo-style knife. He was arrested immediately and taken into custody.

Speaking about the sentence, Police Constable Mason Monger said: “Whether we are in police uniform or in plain clothes, we always know what to look out for when it comes to suspicious activity at stations or onboard trains. Mubaraka’s behaviour that day in May was a clear indication that he was up to no good and our suspicions were proved to be correct.

“Carrying this kind of knife in a public place is a crime, even if it is in a bag, and we will always take a zero-tolerance approach.

"Mubaraka’s actions that day were reckless and dangerous, and I hope he takes the time to think about what he did and the devastation this could have potentially caused.”