Corby boy, 15, who stabbed man four times inside Lincoln Way shop avoids custodial sentence

A teenager and an older man were involved in a shocking attack inside a convenience store which left a victim with multiple stab wounds.

The 15-year-old boy stabbed the man four times in a shop and his co-defendant smashed him in the head seven times with a mobile phone before kicking him in the head while he lay bleeding on the floor.

Northampton Crown Court heard on Thursday (August 24) that the teen – now 16, who we cannot legally name because of his age – had been walking a dog with a pal on the evening of November 19 last year when they arrived at Lincoln Way Stores.

Prosecutor Ben Gow described to the court how the adult male victim asked him what he was looking at as he had ‘looked at him in a funny way’ and then walked over to the teen and put him in a headlock, asking him what his name was. The young pal he had been walking with phoned Christopher Sneddon to come and help.

Shocking CCTV footage then showed the teen going into the shop for sanctuary, followed by the victim.

Sneddon, of Grantham Walk, then arrived at the door and started fighting with the victim, with items flying to the floor and shelves wobbling as they crashed into them.

The victim tried to get away and the teen could be seen on camera getting the knife out of his pocket, before putting it away again.

As Sneddon, 35, overpowered the victim and he was on top of him on the floor, the teen again ran towards the pair, viciously stabbing the victim four times. Sneddon was also stabbed in the melee.

As the brutal video was shown to the court, the youth’s mother sobbed in the public gallery, supported by her partner.

With blood sprayed all over the floor, and the victim lying on his back, Sneddon took out his phone and, ‘with significant force’, smashed it into his head seven times, before kicking him to the head twice. They then fled the scene.

When the police and paramedics arrived, the victim was lying on the floor. He was transported to University Hospital Coventry where he was taken to critical care. He was found to have a stab wound close to his heart and a lacerated liver. He also had wounds on his legs.

Both defendants were originally charged with attempted murder but on the day of trial, the victim failed to turn up to give evidence and the pair admitted lesser offences, which were deemed acceptable to the court. The 15-year-old pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and knife possession, and Sneddon to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Neither have any previous convictions.

Sentencing guidelines state that any jail term should be halved for a child defendant, and in this case the adult guidelines would have been a sentence of three-and-a-half years in prison.

The prosecution accepted that Sneddon had not had a knife with him and had not known that the youth had brought a knife to the scene. Sneddon did agree that his actions had not been proportionate.

The youngster said that he had taken the knife out and stabbed the man ‘in desperation’.

Representing the teen, barrister Kevin Molloy said that the boy had missed the birth of his sibling while in local authority care and had not been able to take GCSE exams which had all had an impact on him.

"There’s a collective responsibility we all take when a child is put into care,” he said.

"There’s measurable harm (attributed to) the process of being away from your family.”

He said that the boy had been simply walking a dog before the incident, adding: “There was this big man’s face in a child’s face. He’s a big bully. He said he was getting his friends down there just because of the way he looked at him.

"There’s no excuse for what followed.”

Before the trial, the youngster was in secure local authority accommodation. During this time he did not consistently adhere to his bail conditions.

Representing Sneddon, barrister Liam Muir said his client had spent nine months in custody on remand and had admitted his crimes on the first day of a trial.

His Honour Judge David Herbert KC said: “The fact is it wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for the victim’s initial conduct.

"This case shows the dangers of carrying knives. You’re a hair’s breadth from what happened here.

"What followed.. turned into a very serious incident.

"There was no need for that violence and it’s well in excess of what anybody could suggest was self defence.

"This was a disgraceful incident in the presence of children in a shop environment, but it was a spur of the moment incident.”

Judge Herbert gave Sneddon an 18-month jail sentence, but as he has already served half of it on remand he was immediately released.

Addressing the youth, Judge Herbert said: “The aim of the youth justice system is to prevent further offending while having regard for your welfare. Your age is a significant point of mitigation. There was also provocation.

"You’ve been on remand for nine months, have been unable to see family in any frequent or meaningful way.”

The youth was given a year-long rehabilitation order during which he will be supervised by probation officers to address his offending and attitude to life. He will also be subject to a curfew between 6pm and 6am for five months. He was ordered to return to court in three months so Judge Herbert can assess his progress.