Shropshire Star

Teenage pair locked up for Telford knife attack terror

Two teenagers have been locked-up for five-and-a-half years for their part in a stabbing in Telford which left a 17-year-old with serious injuries.

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Connor Shepherd

Connor Shepherd, 19, of Willowfield, Woodside, and a 16-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced.

The pair were due to stand trial in August but pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and being in possession of knives at Waltondale, Woodside, on February 18 this year.

Their 17-year-old victim was found at about 11.20pm and taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham where he was treated for multiple stab wounds to the upper body, wrist, legs and buttocks.

Phillip Beardwell, prosecuting, told the court that Shepherd was carrying a flick knife while the younger boy was holding a kitchen knife.

There was also a third member of the gang who was carrying a machete but was never found.

The gang chased their victim until he fell down and began an attack with the weapons, said Mr Beardwell.

"The victim fell over and a man with a machete starting to slash his upper body. He then felt a knife jab in his arm. The flick knife then stabbed him in the groin and buttocks," he said.

Pleaded

"He screamed for help and pleaded with the group to stop attacking him. He estimates it lasted for five minutes.

"No one came to his assistance so he rang his mother because he thought he was going to die and wanted to speak to her one last time."

"He had only known his attackers for about 48 hours so he is at a loss as to why they chose to attack him."

Stephen Scully, defending the 16-year-old, said the boy had shown genuine remorse for his actions.

In mitigation, Simon Parry, defending Shepherd, said it was the third member of the group who had not been caught that had caused the most serious damage to the victim.

Judge Peter Barrie added: "The attack was completely unprovoked and had no sensible motive. When you decided to attack him, you had both gone out with knives and when you attacked him, you very clearly used those knives to stab him repeatedly and tried to harm him as much as you could.

"I accept it was a third man who was responsible for the most serious injuries but it was clearly a joint attack and you are all responsible for the consequences."

The pair were both handed five-and-a-half year sentences.

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