Totton man Stefan Petrescu jailed for three years at Southampton Crown Court for selling knives via social media platforms
A TOTTON man has been jailed for selling “ferocious and vicious” weapons including so-called zombie knives and firearms via social media.
Stefan Petrescu (23), of High Street, used drill music to market the weapons, Southampton Crown Court heard, with tracks including ‘Ready for War’.
In “stark and disturbing” messages uncovered by police, people were requesting knives from the defendant with “specific mention of ‘shanking’ or harming individuals”.
The use of social media by Petrescu helped officers build an “overwhelming package of evidence” against him, said Sergeant Andy Gwyer, of the New Forest’s Priority Crime Team.
“This significantly contributed to an early guilty plea, because, quite simply, he had nowhere to run,” he said.
The conviction follows a joint investigation by Hampshire Constabulary and the Metropolitan Police, which culminated in Petrescu’s home being searched in August last year.
Officers recovered weapons, including a number of knives with Nazi insignias, CS gas and other banned items. They also seized a mobile phone which contained a “large slew of messages” via various social media platforms marketing knives.
Petrescu admitted marketing knives by selling and possessing offensive weapons in a private place. He has been jailed for three years
Sentencing, the judge told the defendant: “These were ferocious and vicious weapons, which you were willing to supply to anyone, and could have been used to kill or harm people.
“One of the aggravating factors here was the use of drill music in the videos.”
Speaking after the case, Sgt Gwyer said the conviction had “contributed substantially to the disruption in the supply of weapons in the New Forest area”.
He continued: “A combined effort, involving lots of hard work by a variety of officers and teams, has ensured that Petrescu was placed before the courts and held accountable for his crimes.
“Today’s sentencing should send out a very clear message. You will not get away with these types of crimes and we will work tirelessly to gather evidence, build a case and bring you before the courts to face justice.”
Lead for knife crime at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Commander Stephen Clayman, said: “The impact of Petrescu’s offending should not be underestimated, and the fact he has now been brought to justice is testament to the hard work and dedication of the officers involved in this case.
“We know that individuals are using social media platforms to buy and also sell weapons indiscriminately; this is something we are closely examining in the ongoing end-to-end review of online knife sales commissioned by the Home Office.
“Reducing the accessibility of knives is one of the key components in our fight against knife crime.”
Those with information on knife crime in their local community should call police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.