Artist News Legal

J Hus jailed for knife possession

By | Published on Monday 17 December 2018

J Hus

Rapper J Hus has been sentenced to eight months in prison after being convicted for the illegal possession of a knife.

The BRIT and Mercury nominated musician was arrested in June, after being discovered to be carrying a knife at the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, East London. Asked by police at the time why he was carrying the blade, he said: “You know, it’s Westfield”, before adding that his “face was known” in the area.

Initially pleading not guilty to the charges against him, the rapper changed his plea in October. Ahead of sentencing, a statement from Hus was read out by his lawyer, Henry Blaxland. In it, he said that he now “fully accepted his actions were careless”, saying that his decision to carry a knife was “ill-advised and utterly stupid”, adding that “being a public figure that many look up to, I simply should have known better”.

Blaxland added that the arrest and court case had been a “watershed moment” for Hus, who already has a number of convictions for knife possession. The arrest and trial had been detrimental to his career and ability to earn money, as well as for those who work with him, said the lawyer. He then revealed that Hus has been seeing a therapist and receiving treatment for PTSD, which resulted from previously being stabbed.

The lawyer also said that, while Hus had already moved out of London in an attempt to escape his violent past in Newham, where he grew up, a feeling of isolation caused by his rising fame had drawn him back to East London “like a moth to a flame”.

Despite these mitigating factors, the judge overseeing the case, Sandy Caravan, said that she had no choice but to deliver a custodial sentence. She added that she would be failing in her duty if she did not jail the rapper, while also noting that his fame had made him a “role model to many”, but he had “failed” to live up to that responsibility.

As well as the prison sentence, Hus has been banned from travelling through Newham for three years, and from associating with a number of named individuals.



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