HE looked so innocent when at 15 he claimed he was being bullied at school.
But teenager Gary Simm turned into a knifeman and took horrific revenge when he caught his ex-girlfriend with her new lover and another man.
Simm, 19, formerly of Heaton Park Court, Heaton, Newcastle, slashed his rival’s throat after catching him in bed with his former girlfriend.
Daniel Andrews, then 23, had to be taken to hospital because he was bleeding profusely from the wounds.
Fortunately, no major veins or arteries had been cut during the kitchen knife attack.
As he lashed out at Mr Andrews, Simm also cut the terrified victim on the chin as she struggled to wrench his arm away.
Another man, a friend of Mr Andrews who was said to have been in the flat on August 26 last year, wasn’t injured.
Simm had returned the flat he still shared at the time with his then 19-year-old ex to discover her with two men.
He was given four years in a young offender institute at Newcastle Crown Court on December 1 last year after pleading guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm.
Now he’s failed in a bid to get the four-year term cut on appeal at London’s Royal Courts of Justice.
The court heard Simm shouted: “What are you doing?” before lunging the blade into Mr Andrews’ neck.
He said in a statement to a police officer after his arrest: “When I stuck a knife into that lad’s throat I meant to kill him.”
It was claimed Simm, then 18, was desperate to get back with [the victim].
His lawyers asked Mr Justice Hedley, Lord Justice Longmore and Mr Justice Nelson, sitting at the Appeal Court, to reduce the sentence.
They argued Simm was an “emotionally immature” young man who had suffered severe provocation.
But in dismissing the appeal Mr Justice Nelson said any credit Simm was due for provocation was reduced because he had previously threatened to “cut up” Mr Andrews in a text message before the attack.
“The court must take into account this man's emotional immaturity,” he said.
“The situation was a volatile one, as [the victim] was prepared to bring her new boyfriend back to the house and engage in a menage a trois.
“There was indeed clear provocation of an immediate nature.
“But he had already declared an intention to harm her new boyfriend, with or without provocation.
“This attack was serious and could have been life-threatening – it was only good fortune that it was not.”
The judge added: “Even where there is provocation, an attack with a knife cannot be anything but condemned by society.
“Those who resort to the use of knives should expect substantial terms of imprisonment, even when provoked.”
Neither Mr Andrews or the victim wanted to comment about Simm’s latest legal move.
