Two young men have been jailed after a man was subjected to a vicious machete attack in Salford - “miraculously” escaping serious injury.
Rio Smith, 19, and Kieran Lawrence, 25, were both involved in the “terrifying” attack on the man in October last year, which saw Smith “hack” at the man with a machete. Geoff Whelan, prosecuting, told the Manchester Crown Court that problems began on October 3, when Smith stole the victim’s Volvo V40 after they were drinking together in a pub in Swinton and had a “falling out”.
The victim phoned several members of Smith’s family in an attempt to get his car back, with Smith threatening to “slice his face off” on at least two occasions, before the victim headed to his sister’s house in Salford the next morning where she called Smith and asked him to bring the car back so her brother could go to work.
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Smith turned up to the house in a taxi, pulled a “large machete” out of his pants and chased the victim into his sister’s house, with the siblings trying to hold the front door shut as Smith smashed one of the windows in the door with the weapon, injuring the victim’s head in the process. Smith then attempted to reach inside to open the door, punching the victim’s sister in the face as she attempted to stop him, before getting inside and chasing the victim into the kitchen, where he started hitting the man with the machete several times leaving him fearing for his life as he repeatedly screamed “I’m sorry”, apologising for calling the police over his car’s theft.
After a few minutes, Smith left the house and headed back towards the taxi, and the victim ran out of the house to see if Smith had brought his car to the scene. At that point, Lawrence, who was not wearing a shirt at the time, got out of the taxi holding a brandy bottle, and started chasing the victim alongside Smith, with the pair assaulting the man when he reached his sister’s garden. CCTV footage from the scene shows Smith viciously swinging the machete and “hacking” at the man, whilst Lawrence tried to punch him.
Miraculously, when the victim was taken to hospital he had escaped serious injury, with a cut to his face, bruising, and a fractured arm - injuries which Mr Whelan described as “very lucky” in this case. A victim impact statement read by the prosecutor said: “That scruff took my car, caused me to lose money, left me in hospital for a week and took my life away. I was getting on with my life, loving my family, my wife and my baby, and now I can’t get rid of the image in my head of being hacked at by a male with a machete.”
Lawrence, represented by Wayne Jackson, has previous convictions for battery, common assaults, and a section 20 assault of causing grievous bodily harm. Mr Jackson asked for a lighter sentence for his client due to his “limited involvement” in the incident, and told the court that Lawrence’s judgement had been impaired due to being “off his head” on drink and drugs - proven by the fact he was shirtless outside in October.
Smith was represented by Ann Tayto. She conceded that her client’s actions were “clearly unacceptable” but urged for leniency as Smith was only 18 at the time of the offence, saying medical research shows a young man’s frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for your judgement, does not fully develop until age 25 so his youth played a part in his irresponsible actions.
She also said Smith suffers from ADHD, which he is medicated for, and was described by his dad as having a “very sweet side to him”, with an offer of employment open to him when he gets out of prison. His Honour Judge Cross made reference to a photo in the prosecution’s evidence which was shown in court, with Smith holding a machete in what was described as “gangster mode”. Smith admitted this was not the same machete used in the incident, and that the photo had been taken when he was 15 or 16-years-old.
Sentencing both boys to imprisonment, Judge Cross said: “It’s clear Smith spent some considerable time thinking about what he was going to do because he had armed himself with a terrifying machete and had hidden it about his person. You pulled the machete out in broad daylight and attacked the home of the victim’s sister. Part of the victim’s statement reads: ‘[My sister] was screaming when we were trying to stop Smith from coming into the house, we knew he was going to seriously hurt us. It was such a terrifying moment for me and my sister.’
“That the victim was not killed or that he did not suffer serious harm is in fact miraculous. This is a clear case where there was intent to cause that serious harm, the film shows but one blow but the machete is being swung with force and misses the body of the victim. Had the blow struck him then he would have suffered a life threatening injury.”
Smith, who admitted a section 18 assault, theft, and possession of a bladed article, was sentenced to seven years and two months imprisonment, and must serve two-thirds of that sentence before he can be released. Lawrence, who admitted the less serious section 20 assault, was sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment.
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