Teen who stabbed man twice in Tipton is spared jail

Trouble flared after the 44-year-old victim allegedly threw beer and possibly a bottle out of an upstairs window at a group of teenagers, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

There was an exchange of words and the man rushed out of the Hot Shots Snooker Club in High Street, Tipton to confront the 17-year-old on January 20, said Miss Fiona Cortese, prosecuting.

The older man supposedly tried to throw a punch but missed before an onlooker warned him: ‘He has got a knife,’ the court was told.

The prosecutor continued: “The defendant then removed the knife and stabbed the man in the left side of the stomach.”

He was also cut on the inside of a forearm during the incident, which was partially captured on CCTV.

The victim was taken to hospital where he was kept under observation overnight after having 11 stitches in the two wounds.

His attacker was so frightened by what had happened that he did not dare go home until the next morning when he admitted to his mother what he had done and she alerted police.

He claimed to have been carrying a knife for a ‘few weeks’ for his own protection.

Miss Seamran Sidhu, defending, explained: “His friend was attacked with a knife and he foolishly decided to arm himself.”

The youth, who cannot be identified, admitted wounding with intent and was given a two-year youth rehabilitation order with a six-month intensive supervision element and three-month long night-time curfew.

Recorder Nicholas Syfret QC said: “I am bound to be critical of the victim who was behaving with a degree of aggression which was not appropriate in the circumstances.

“You had a knife and used it to cause serious injury but I am quite satisfied you immediately regretted this.

“It seems to me that you are a decent and intelligent young man and this was an aberration.”