A vandal who threw a bottle through the window of a police van and then returned the next day to point a penknife at a member of rail staff has been jailed.
Both incidents occurred in May 2022 at Peterborough railway station.
Joshua Johnstone, 23, of Eastfield Road, Peterborough, appeared in court on May 21 and pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article in a public place.
On Wednesday, May 24, a judge sentenced him to six months in prison.
On June 6, he appeared in Lincolnshire Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to criminal damage. On June 20, a judge sentenced him to another month in prison for the offence.
A British Transport Police (BTP) officer stationed at Peterborough station witnessed Johnstone run up to a BTP police van and hurl a glass bottle through the driver-side window, shattering it.
The witnessing officer then approached him and arrested him on suspicion of criminal damage, to which he responded by laughing.
He was taken into police custody and charged in court the next morning (May 21), before returning to the railway station and smoking a cigarette in its foyer.
A rail employee approached Johnstone and advised him to smoke outside before he pulled out a penknife and pointed it at the employee.
He then went outside the station and stared at the employee while tapping on a window with his knife.
Officers arrived at the station quickly, and he was arrested on suspicion of possessing a bladed article in a public place and taken into custody.
“Johnstone’s actions on his two-day crime spree were barbaric and completely unnecessary,” said BTP Inspector David Barker.
“After causing damage to a marked police vehicle, he returned to the station with a knife and intimidated a member of rail staff simply for doing their job.”
“Threatening behaviour directed at rail employees or anyone else on the rail network will not be tolerated.” I’m grateful to the courts for imposing a prison sentence, giving Johnstone plenty of time behind bars to reconsider his actions.”
