A man has been sentenced to two years in prison for threatening a man with a firearm and violently assaulting him in Crawley. The incident, which occurred on August 11, led to an intense investigation by Sussex Police, ultimately revealing a different narrative than initially reported.
On that day, police responded to a report of a stabbing near The Grand Bay in Pelham Place, where Manuelito Andre, 25, suffered severe injuries to his arm. Andre was immediately taken to the hospital, where he informed police that he had approached a man regarding money he was owed. According to Andre’s initial account, this man then chased him and stabbed him.
However, after a thorough investigation, including CCTV footage review, police found a different story. The footage revealed that Andre had, in fact, approached a man in his 30s, threatening him with a firearm before launching a “sustained attack” lasting several minutes. During the altercation, the victim managed to grab a knife in an act of self-defense, ultimately inflicting the injuries that sent Andre to the hospital.
“This was a complex investigation in which CCTV showed different events to what we were told,” said CID Supervisor Oli Robinson. “The CCTV evidence was key to Andre’s conviction. It showed how the victim was cornered into an area where he was able to grab an item to defend himself.”
Andre, who has no fixed address, was arrested while still in the hospital on August 14. He was subsequently charged, remanded into custody, and later pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court on September 12. On October 25, he was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £187.
Reflecting on the case, CID Supervisor Robinson added, “Due to his behavior, Andre is now behind bars and rightly serving his sentence.”
This case underscores the importance of CCTV evidence in clarifying the events, highlighting how the initial version of events was upturned by the clear and critical insights the footage provided.
