Milad Panjshiri, 22, was carrying a six-inch blade as he stormed into the supermarket in Bradford – shoppers and staff were forced to evacuate due to his ‘rampage’
Morrisons shoppers and staff were forced to evacuated as a man waving a knife went on a “rampage”.
Milad Panjshiri, 22, was carrying a six-inch blade as he stormed into the supermarket in Bradford, West Yorkshire, before trashing aisles.
Video footage showed Panjshiri hurling wine bottles onto the floor. The violent outburst left the supermarket covered in shattered glass as shoppers fled the scene.
The Afghan national even waved a knife at a female member of staff. Dozens of shoppers, including the elderly, had to be ushered out of the shop for their own safety.
Bradford Crown Court heard Panjshiri stabbed cans with the knife and pushed over shelves full of wine bottles on December 5 last year. A judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison, but said he may only serve “40%” of the time handed down.
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One worker saw him “tapping the knife on his leg” before he approached a female employee and waved the blade at her.
Staff later told police they were left panicked and in tears while trying to guide confused shoppers out of the store. The court heard some members of the public did not know what to do as the chaos unfolded.
Police were called just before 11am to reports of a man causing damage with a knife inside the supermarket. Officers later arrested Panjshiri and recovered the weapon.
Panjishiri, of Deneside Terrace, Bradford, West Yorks, refused to leave his prison cell for sentencing.
Mitigating, Fuad Arshad said mental health issues were a factor in Panjshiri’s behaviour and told the court there was no evidence he had attempted to attack members of the public.
Sentencing him to 18 months in prison, Recorder Tony Watkin described the incident as “a very troubling offence” and “something in the way of a rampage”.
He added: “He was brandishing that knife in a public place, and there can’t be that many more serious examples of offending of this nature than what happened on that day.
“No doubt because of other incidents that have occurred both the staff and members of the public will have had a heightened awareness of something like this occurring.”
The judge said prison staff had raised concerns about violence, psychosis, improvised weapons and non-engagement while Panjshiri was in custody.
Recorder Watkin added: “He will serve potentially 40 per cent of [his] sentence. I don’t know whether he will remain in prison given his immigration status. That is outside the knowledge of this court.”
