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Teen left with lifelong injuries in knife attack

26/ 6/2008

A 16-YEAR-OLD boy has been jailed for stabbing another teenager, who may be left with lifelong nerve damage.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stabbed the 16-year-old in November last year after he bumped into him on a bus when it braked hard.

After getting off the bus, which had travelled from Heaton Park to Radcliffe, the teen followed the boy and his friend up Radcliffe New Road.

He shouted at them to stop but they kept walking until they reached the junction with Nipper Lane where they saw the boy in an alleyway with another boy.

He then ran at the 16-year-old while holding a long, blue handled knife which has never been recovered.

The teenager was stabbed in the leg and later underwent emergency surgery as the knife went right through his thigh from back to front, narrowly missing his femoral artery.

A passerby who witnessed the attack followed the boy back to their home and told police where he had gone.

His home was searched and an empty knife sheath was found and photos of a knife were found on the boy’s phone.

The boy pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm in January and was jailed at Bolton Crown Court on Tuesday, June 24.

Detective Inspector Lynne Vernon said: "This attack was shocking, unprovoked and violent, and the victim was very lucky not to have died.

"The treatment to mend his leg has been long and painful, and he could have lifelong nerve damage as a result of this attack.

"The psychological affect this attack had on this young man has also been severe

"Knives are very dangerous weapons, and can quite clearly ruin people’s lives.

"They just should not be carried around.

"Anyone who does carry a knife out of habit, or what they think is necessity, could also be heading for jail, or much worse.

"Although knife crime represents only a very small portion of crime as a whole in Greater Manchester, we are committed to continue working to stop incidents like this, and to educate young people especially on the real dangers of these weapons."