'Yet another knife crime' as would-be killer given 21 years for machete park attack

Judge Michael Chambers KC has been outspoken about the 'scourge of knife crime' in the Black Country, and addressed the issue again in his summing up before sentencing 22-year-old Obeidulla Waffa on Thursday.

Waffa, of Cheshire Road, Smethwick, was last month found guilty of the attempted murder of a man in Victoria Park, Smethwick, on August 19 last year.

He stabbed his victim twice with a machete-style instrument, leaving him needing life-saving surgery. The weapon was never recovered.

A few weeks later, on September 13, he was caught in possession of a hunting knife in the Windmills Shopping Centre, Smethwick.

Although Judge Chambers said the attack was as a result of an altercation between two men who had fallen out, and wasn't pre-meditated, he said it wouldn't have occurred had there been no weapons carried.

He said: "It is yet another instance where people who carry a knife are tempted to use them in a potential confrontation, and if a knife hadn't been in use that would probably not have been the case.

"Although this was an argument and confrontation between the two and not a pre-meditated attack, nothing the victim did justified the injuries he received and we already heard in the trial how you were aiming for the heart and it was very lucky we were not looking at a murder charge."

The court heard Waffa had gone to the park to meet up with a friend and there was a group of people he knew meeting there – he became involved in an argument with his victim and a struggle ensued in which the stabbing occurred.

Prosecuting counsel Sarah Slater read out a victim impact statement which said the victim had suffered serious injuries to his left shoulder and the left side of the chest which had caused serious problems for him in terms of sleeping and had also affected his ability to get a job.

It said: "He suffers numbness on his left side and has trouble sleeping both physically and mentally because his mind is on a constant loop back to the incident and he finds it impossible to forget.

"His family have suffered, his elderly parents are very protective and worried about him as is his brother who doesn't want his mum and dad to be burdened with the aftermath of it.

"It has also affected his ability to apply for jobs because he has to declare the numbness as a medical condition."

For the attempted murder, Waffa, who was of previous good character, was jailed for 21 years, and was given 18 months concurrent for the possession of a bladed weapon offence.