Man who faces deportation for knife offence has ‘history of offending’

A 63-year-old Lithuanian who faces possible deportation after being found unlawfully with knives in Sainsbury’s had a history of offending in his home country The Voice can reveal.

However The Home Office has refused to say what previous convictions Kestutis Kisielius has after he was led away from Boston Magistrates’ Court in handcuffs on Wednesday April 3, despite being given a suspended sentence.

At the hearing, Kisielius, of Water Lane, Spalding, pleaded guilty to having a folding pocket knife with a 9.5cm blade on him in Sainsbury’s in Holland Market, Spalding on March 10.

The court heard that Kisielius also had with him a kitchen knife with a 10.5cm blade which he had stolen minutes before from the neighbouring Wilko store.

He used one of the knives to cut the security tag off a £27 bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin and steal the drink.

A Home Office spokesman confirmed to The Voice that Kisielius had a history of offences but said they could not provide any further comment on an individual case when The Voice asked what the offences were.

The spokesman confirmed that Kisielius had “a history of offending, but is not wanted in relation to any outstanding charges.”

“Foreign nationals who commit criminal offences should be in no doubt of our determination to remove them from the UK,” the spokesman continued. “We have removed nearly 47,000 foreign offenders since 2010.”

When asked what the history of offending entailed, the Home Office spokesman said: “We can’t provide any further comment on an individual case.”

At this month’s hearing, prosecutor Nick Todd told Boston Magistrates Court went into Wilko at about 1.50pm to steal the kitchen knife and about 15 minutes later was seen on CCTV in Sainsbury’s carrying out the second theft.

“He appears to have left the store and then came back and was detained by a member of staff,” added Mr Todd.

“Police arrived and not only the kitchen knife from Wilko but a pocket knife was found.”

Kisielius pleaded guilty to possession of a knife blade in a public place and two counts of theft.

In mitigation, Helen Coney said: “He had this pocket knife not knowing it was unlawful.”

He had not produced either knife to cause distress to anyone, said Miss Coney, adding: “He only came to the attention of police because of the thefts.”

Presiding magistrate David Milner-Scudder told Kisielius that the starting point for his punishment was custody but that was not appropriate given the defendant’s circumstances.

He was handed a four-week sentence, suspended for six months. There was no separate penalty for the thefts.