Teenager sentenced to youth custody after stabbing 16 year old
Boy lunged at his victim with a knife in Skelmersdale
A teenager who lunged with a knife at a 16-year-old boy in Skelmersdale, has been sentenced to youth custody following an investigation by Lancashire Police.
He confronted his victim – the pair were known to one another and there had been previous ill-feeling between them - on a pathway near to Skelmersdale Library and the Concourse shopping centre, at lunchtime on September 25.
Wearing a balaclava, the teenager lunged five or six times with the knife towards the boy’s torso.
The victim in the main managed to dodge out of the way, but at one point the knife came down on his upper arm.
Mercifully, it caused only reddening to the skin and a tear in the material of the boy’s puffer jacket.
Officers launched an investigation and the suspect was arrested two days later.
The attacker, who was 16 at the time of the offence and is now 17, pleaded guilty to attempted Section 18 wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon. He cannot be named because of his age.
At Preston Crown Court, he was sentenced to three years custody and had a five-year restraining order imposed to prevent him from approaching his victim.
Insp John Bent of West Lancs Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Knife crime is an issue which causes alarm in our communities.
“The use of a knife can have a devastating impact and Lancashire Police are determined to take knives off the street and bring those people who use them to justice.
“In this case a teenager armed himself with a knife to attempt to cause harm to someone of a similar age who he knew.
“Fortunately the victim wasn’t seriously hurt but the consequences could have been much more severe.” Hear all the latest news from across Lancashire on the hour, every hour, on 97.4FM, DAB, at rockfm.co.uk, and on the Rock FM app.