A man left a bag of poo on his disabled neighbour's doorstep, attacked him with a hammer and stabbed him with a steak knife.
Stephen Hill also threatened to kill David Smith's dog and daubed offensive messages over his car in paint during an unprovoked campaign of harassment. The pair had previously lived alongside each other harmoniously, but within a fortnight the victim was left "fearing for his life".
Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Monday, that Mr Smith had been residing at his home on Beaufort Street, Dingle, for around 10 months at the time of the string of incidents in September and October 2021. He requires around the clock care and receives regular visits from support workers due to a degenerative spinal condition.
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The "only real interaction" between him and Hill beforehand came in December 2020, when the victim delivered boxes of chocolates to the defendant and others in the street upon moving in. But, in the early autumn of last year, his BMW was vandalised by having "obscene" messages spray painted over it, as did shops in the area.
On September 28, Mr Smith with discussing these events with other neighbours when his attacker appeared and "began ranting". Hill called him a "baldy fat c***" and swung a claw hammer at him three times from the other side of his garden wall. He was described as "hysterical" and added: "I'm going to f***ing kill your dog."
On the evening of October 1, the assailant then followed one of Mr Smith's carers around in their car for around 20 minutes. The following morning, Mr Smith discovered a bag of dog poo had been left on his driveway.
Early on October 5, Mr Smith was in his front garden smoking a cigarette when he saw Hill "marching towards him". He said he was "looking for his cat" when asked what he was doing, but then leaned towards his victim and attacked him.
Mr Smith felt "excruciating pain" to his right abdomen before Hill "giggled" and fell over, at which point Mr Smith noticed he was brandishing a steak knife with a five-inch serrated blade and had been stabbed. He then "went into survival mode" and attempted to disarm the knifeman, suffering a cut to his right index finger as he did so.
Hill, of Beaufort Street, tried to "plunge" the knife into him again and shouted: "I'll f***ing kill you, you Cockney c***. Kill, kill, kill."
Mr Smith managed to elbow the armed man, causing him to drop the knife. He was rushed to hospital, where a CT scan showed a wound to the peritoneum. This had caused damage to his liver, requiring him to undergo surgery.
Mr Smith was left unable to drink alcohol and "struggles with daily tasks" due to the hand injury.
In a statement read out to the court on his behalf, he described having suffered from "significant distress, frustration and constant pain". He added: "Prior to this event, I was already disabled and in constant pain - to have further disability as a result is very hard to accept."
Michael O'Brien, defending, stated his client suffers from bipolar disorder as well as a number of physical health difficulties. He added that Hill had not received appropriate support with his mental health when suffering from an episode after having his diagnosis changed to ADHD.
He has three previous convictions for five offences, including wounding in 1999, harassment in 2008 and battery and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place in 2019. Mr O'Brien said: "It seems when he's not medicated properly then he falls into the auspices of the criminal justice system."
Hill - who appeared via video link to HMP Liverpool - admitted wounding, possession of a bladed article in a public place, assault and criminal damage during an earlier hearing. He was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Sentencing, Judge David Swinnerton said: "He barely knew you, but over that two-week period you committed a string of offences against him. He is vulnerable as a result of his own disabilities. Without any real reason, you stabbed him to the abdomen with a steak knife. He feared for his life, but he was able to disarm you of the knife.
"This has had a substantial impact on him. He already had a poor quality of life, but that has been made worse. This came out of the blue. You had no issues or arguments with Mr Smith, yet you behaved like this towards him and went on to stab him.
"There is a reoccurring pattern with you, where you have manic relapses about once a decade. There are now two in a fairly short period of time. There was a change in your medication and diagnosis shortly before this offending. One consequence of that was that when contacting the mental health team for help, you were not assisted to the level you might have been.
"You were not offered treatment while presenting in crisis due to your new diagnosis. That's the background to which you committed these offences."
Hill was also handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting Mr Smith or entering Beaufort Street or Warwick Street for the next five years, and must also pay a victim surcharge. Forfeiture and destruction of the knife was ordered.
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