A teenager who launched a vicious "revenge" attack on another youngster with a meat cleaver has no remorse for his actions.
Airon Taylor set about his victim with the 10-inch long blade after encountering him in Swansea city centre - then casually walked away "as if he didn't have a care in the world". The man the 19-year-old attacked suffered a fractured skull and deep gashes to his knees, which cut tendons and chipped the bone and which required surgery.
Making the teenager the subject of an extended sentence as a dangerous offender, a judge said he had no doubt that if he were not treated he would be capable of killing.
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Kevin Jones, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that Taylor and his victim had known each other for two or three years prior to the assault and, though they had initially been on friendly terms, in recent times there had been "difficulties" between them and there seemed to be "some clash of characters".
A few months before the stabbing the pair had been involved in a fight, and following that incident the two met by chance in McDonald's in Swansea city centre where Taylor showed the other man a knife he had in his rucksack and warned him: "Next time I see you, this is going in you."
Mr Jones said the attack happened on the night of November 12 last year as the victim - who is also aged 19 - was walking through the city centre on his way to a friend's house. Talyor was also in the city centre that evening having just checked in to the nearby Travelodge hotel. The court heard the pair encountered each other Orchard Street and Taylor, who was with a group of youngsters, approached his victim and struck him on the head with a meat cleaver. The victim went to the floor and Taylor slashed him a number of times as the injured man tried to fend him off with his legs. Taylor then walked away.
Mr Jones said the attack was witness by a passing taxi driver who said what he saw "made him sick to his stomach". The cabbie pulled over and was about to call 999 when he saw a passing police van and managed to flag it down. Taylor and the other youngsters had left the scene but the injured man was on the pavement, and he told the officers who went to his aid: "You better catch this **** or I'll shoot him."
The injured teenager was taken to Morriston Hospital where doctors found he had suffered a fractured skull and a cut to his head, as well as deep gashes to both knees which had cut the tendons and chipped the bone. The casualty needed surgery to repair his knees, and was in hospital for four days.
Meanwhile Taylor had been seen briefly returning to his hotel room before disappearing. The meat cleaver he used has never been found.
The defendant was arrested on November 14 and in his interview denied the assault and claimed it was false allegation. He told officers he had been at McDonald's at the time of the attack, though checks later found the restaurant had closed some two hours before Taylor said he was there.
In an impact statement which was read to the court the victim said he had struggled with his mental and physical health since the attack, was reluctant to leave the house alone, and was not able to box or go to the gym because of his injuries.
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Airon Taylor, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and to possession of an offensive weapon when he appeared in the dock via videolink from prison for sentencing. The court heard he has a previous conviction for assault occasioning actual bodily harm - an offence committed in Grimsby when he had punched a man in the face following an argument and left him with a cut from the corner of his mouth to his ear - and one for possession of a bladed article from Swansea which had seen arguing with a man in the city centre while carrying a knife. He got a 12-month youth referral order for both these matters when he was sentenced in December 2019.
Eugene Hickey, for Taylor, said the details of the defendant's childhood made "distressing reading", and included him seeing his mother's partner - "an individual involved in serious criminal activity" - holding a gun to his mum's head. He said his client grew up without any positive role models in his life, and was then exploited by others and drawn into a county lines gang. The barrister said Taylor and his mother had subsequently been moved to the south Wales area.
Mr Hickey asked the court to bear in mind the age of the defendant, and said his life was at a crossroads but added that there were positive signs such as his willingness to improve his reading and writing skills during his time on remand in prison.
Judge Geraint Walters said the facts of the case made "disturbing reading", and said he had rarely seen such a troubling case involving a defendant of Taylor's young age. He said it was clear from the details of the defendant's upbringing that he knew no other way of resolving disputes other than through the use of violence.
The judge described the Orchard Street assault as a "cold, calm, calculated act" following which the defendant had simply walked away "as if he didn't have a care in the world", and noted that by the teenager's own admission to probation officers it had been carried out in revenge.
He said: "You have never shown a shred of remorse. You told the probation officer you thought you had done nothing wrong, you said you victim got what he deserved.... You are a dangerous offender in my view. I my judgement, if untreated you pose a significant risk to the public. Unless you are treated you have the capacity, in my view, to kill."
Taylor was made the subject of an eight-year extended sentence comprising four-and-a-half years in detention followed by a three-and-a-half year licence period.
The judge noted that neither Taylor, nor his victim, had been willing to reveal what the issue between them was.
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