Man who stabbed victim and injured officer with roof tile is jailed
A man has been jailed for six years and two months following a stabbing in Southampton earlier this year
Samuel Woodford, 31, currently residing at HMP Winchester, appeared at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday, 22 September, having pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, having an article with a blade or point, assault on an emergency worker, and four counts of damaging property.
These all related to an incident on July 6 this year in London Road.
Shortly before 10am, the victim - a 40-year-old man - had been riding his bike when he encountered Woodford and an altercation ensued between the two.
During this encounter, Woodford took a weapon out of his pocket and stabbed the man on his upper arm, upper leg and in his abdomen before fleeing the scene on the victim's bike.
Meanwhile, the victim walked into a nearby business and asked staff for help, who then called the police.
Officers attended within minutes and found the man further down the street outside a convenience store, where he was taken to hospital and received emergency surgery for the wound to his abdomen.
During the day, officers carried out several arrest attempts for Woodford and he was found at an address in Parsonage Road, Southampton, later that evening.
Woodford then climbed onto the roof of the property and refused to come down while throwing roof tiles.
These damaged two nearby cars and one tile hit an officer on the arm, resulting in him going to A&E for treatment.
The chimney stack of the address was also pushed off by Woodford.
After several hours of negotiation, Woodford came down from the roof and was arrested at 10.30pm.
The weapon used to stab the man was not recovered.
In their closing remarks, the judge described Woodford as a 'dangerous' individual that could 'easily have killed' the victim, who 'could have bled out on the street'.
He added that the sentence reflected the fact Woodford represented 'a significant risk of serious harm to the public'.
Officer in the case, PC Eloise Prowting from Western Investigations, said: "Woodford's actions that day could have quite easily ended in tragedy and how he behaved before his arrest was completely unacceptable, putting both the public and my colleagues in further danger.
"I hope this sentence shows that we will not tolerate serious violence in our city and will do all in our power to ensure offenders are brought to justice."