‘Drinker held a knife in the air’

This is a piece of my own reporting. Events and names have been changed, and events are NOT true to life. This was purely a reporting exercise.

Charles Francosa began the day by drinking alcohol as he always would. Since becoming an alcoholic three years ago his violence had increased and he began to feel violently angry towards his ex-girlfriend whom he had been separated from for only a short period of time.

Francosa, currently living in the Grimsby area of North East Lincolnshire, had only that morning entered his local supermarket and purchased a knife, with what he claims to be ‘for only cooking intent’.

That morning Charles Francosa purchased extra belongings including a packet of cigarettes and a bottle of vodka, as well as other violent weaponry, before sending his ex-girlfriend a number of abusive text messages.

When he did not receive a response, he began to consume excessive amounts of alcohol and became apparently ‘un-responsive’ to the advice of family and friends. He began looking through a number of old photographs before tearing them in pieces and setting them on fire in his residence of the Salvation Army Hostel, based on Eleanor Street Grimsby. He then began shouting and talking to himself. It is claimed that when other members of staff advised him to rest and to attend an ‘AA’ meeting he dismissed all comment and began playing with the metal knife, still present in his pocket.

A resident, who did not wish to be named, claimed that they ‘felt unsafe, he seemed to be somewhere else in his mind; I was eager to get out of the way. He did not want to listen to anything we had to say, I felt as if he could stab somebody’. She added.

After burning the photographs, Francosa retreated to his room where loud shouting could be heard along the corridors. It is believed that threats were made to a number of different people on the day of the incident. Staff and volunteers at the hostel also claimed that Francosa had been suffering from cold sweats during the night and appeared uneasy. Despite his violence, Francosa is well-known around the local area for his ‘friendly character’.

It was approximately 1pm when Francosa entered the kitchen and began arguing with Miss smith, (Bianca), on December 25^th 2012. She claims that he began waving his arms in the air and backed her into the corner of the kitchen. ‘I felt so intimidated’. She explained.

Witnesses say that Francosa then grabbed hold of the knife and began ‘twirling it in his hands with a smile on his face’ before admitting he feared for his life as ‘two men are going to kill me’ and that if they turned up ‘this is what they would get’.

Six months alcohol treatment has been issued and Charles Francosa will receive a one-year supervision order. He will pay £75 in costs.

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Boneata Bell