A rapper has been jailed for seven years for inflicting horrific injuries on two Scots men with a machete.
Louis Stacey, 23, assaulted Stephen Ritchie and Gordon Graham with the bladed weapon during a confrontation in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, on December 27 2020.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how the injury inflicted by Stacey on Mr Ritchie was so bad that his internal organs were left exposed and his bowel was cut apart.
Medics at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary managed to save Mr Ritchie’s life - but consultants who treated him reckoned he was just hours from death.
Mr Graham managed to escape serious injury but still needed hospital treatment. Police arrested Stacey - who raps as Mr Bando - after he left Fraserburgh in the hours following the attack for his old haunts in the capital.
He had come to Scotland to start a new life after leaving his old home in Tottenham - the street where he lived has been described as being at the centre of gang warfare in the area.
He claimed he was forced to act in self defence and carry the weapon after he feared that a group of men in the town were going to kill him.
However, at the end of a week long trial earlier this year, jurors convicted Stacey, of Lordship Lane, Tottenham, on a charge of assaulting Mr Ritchie whilst wearing a balaclava to conceal his identity.
On Friday, judge Lord Tyre told Stacey, who observed proceedings via video link, that he needed to go to prison for his crimes.
In his remarks, Lord Tyre made reference to how Mr Ritchie’s wounds were so serious that his intestines were left exposed. He then said the term took into account sentencing guidelines which stress that people who are aged under 25 should receive lesser sentences than older people.
He added “It is a matter of good luck that none of these wounds were fatal. I’m in no doubt that only a prison sentence is appropriate in this case.
“I have taken into account the terms of the criminal justice social work report and listened to everything which has been said on your behalf by your counsel.
“The sentence of the court will be seven years - if you had been older the sentence would have been longer.”
At proceedings earlier this year, jurors convicted Stacey of running at Mr Ritchie in the town’s Moray Road before striking him on his neck and stomach with a machete.
Jurors deleted a reference to attempted murder from the charge but the charge stated that Mr Ritchie was left severely injured, permanently disfigured, permanently impaired and that his life was placed in danger.
He was also convicted of striking Mr Graham on his leg with a machete.
Stacey raps as Mr Bando. He is known in UK drill circles and his music is featured on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. He is tipped as an up and coming MC.
Drill is a genre of hip hop music which has been criticised in the past for its graphic depictions of violence and drugs. Stacey’s videos see him rap about selling drugs. In one video, he poses with young women beside a Rolls Royce.
According to a BBC article about drill music, ‘bando’ is a slang term used by drill rappers to describe an abandoned house which is used by gangs to sell drugs.
Stacey lived in Lordship Lane. An article published in the Guardian in April 2018 tells of how the road is at the centre of gang warfare in London.
During proceedings, the court heard that in the moments before the attacks on Mr Ritchie and Mr Graham, Stacey was seen standing outside a house in Moray Road, Fraserburgh and was shouting: “Get out of the house or the door will go up in flames.”
Jurors heard that Stacey armed himself with a machete in a bid to collect money from a man who owed him money.
He also wore a balaclava in a bid to disguise his identity. However, Stacey became involved in a confrontation with a group of men including Stephen Ritchie and Gordon Graham
He inflicted life threatening injuries on Stephen Ritchie causing him to need urgent surgery to keep him alive. He also stabbed Gordon Graham’s right knee - doctors glued the wound and another cut to his right thigh which needed cleaning.
The court heard that Mr Ritchie was taken to a minor injuries clinic in Fraserburgh but was later transferred to Aberdeen.
Reading from a joint minute of agreed evidence, prosecutor Dale Hughes said that the wound to Mr Ritchie’s abdomen was 30 centimetre in length which caused “his internal injuries to be exposed”. Mr Hughes added: “The ends of his colon were stapled.”
Stacey that he acted in self defence. In his closing speech, Mr Hughes said: “He is not a poor London boy trying to make a new life for himself in Fraserburgh. He is not an innocent abroad. He is a vicious enforcer trying to collect debts.”
On Friday, defence solicitor advocate Graeme Brown says that his client had a “rather unusual background” and that he was being supported by his twin sisters.
Describing the relationship with his siblings Mr Brown added: “He describes one of them as being a mother figure.”
Mr Brown said Stacey didn’t have any previous convictions for violence and planned to go and live with his girlfriend in Bristol following his release.
Lord Tyre also told Stacey that he hoped the rapper would use his time in custody to rehabilitate himself.
He added: “I hope you will use your time in prison as a break from violence and you will use it towards pursuing one of the careers that you have on hold.”
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