Hallucinating man with machete held friend prisoner in Brighton flat for hours

A terrified man was held against his will for hours by a machete-wielding drug addict who was hallucinating on crack cocaine.
Kindler was jailed for affray and false imprisonment. Picture: Sussex PoliceKindler was jailed for affray and false imprisonment. Picture: Sussex Police
Kindler was jailed for affray and false imprisonment. Picture: Sussex Police

Derek Kindler was ‘off his head’ on the Class A drug and had not slept for four days, a court heard.

Kindler, 48, was seen to be talking to his reflection in mirrors and carrying two 'fearsome' weapons during the terrifying ordeal at his flat.

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He told his friend he was ‘definitely getting stabbed no matter what happens’, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Kindler, of Blackman Road in Brighton, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and affray and was sentenced yesterday.

'The only way you are going out is it I stab you'

Prosecutor Alan Gardiner said: “The victim had gone round to the defendant’s flat at around 11pm the previous evening.

“The defendant was behaving in a way that caused alarm to the victim, having some sort of mental health episode.”

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Kindler told his friend ‘you’re one of them’ and ‘the only way you are going out is if I stab you’.

Kindler had locked the door and tied the key to his belt, so his friend and another woman were unable to leave the flat.

The prosecutor said: “The defendant had with him a kitchen knife and a machete, wielding these two weapons in a martial arts type fashion.”

Desperate 999 call to police at 2.23am

About 2.23am the man seized his chance and dialled 999 and police eventually arrived at the flat and Kindler was arrested.

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Defence barrister Sarah Taite said: “Mr Kindler says he is really sorry to his friend.”

The court heard that Kindler has no memory of the incident.

Kindler was assessed by a doctor, who came to the conclusion that the knife-wielding episode in the flat was the result of taking crack cocaine, not mental illness.

Judge: Ordeal must have felt like an eternity

Sentencing him, Judge Christine Laing QC said: “This must have been a terrifying event for somebody who had been a longstanding friend of yours and also for the woman.

“Two and a half hours must have felt like an eternity [for them].”

She said both the machete and the six-inch knife were ‘fearsome’ and that it was ‘nothing short of miraculous’ that nobody was injured.

Kindler was jailed for 20 months.