An army veteran launched a terrifying knife attack on a shopkeeper after he refused to serve him credit. Carl Hayward, 34, walked up to the First Convenience Store in Burnage, hiding a kitchen knife up his sleeve.
After asking the man for credit he was refused and became aggressive. Hayward, of Gorton, then called the man a ‘p****’ before asking him to ‘come outside’.
“It was his [shopkeeper’s] understanding that this was for a fight,” David Lees, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court. “The defendant left the shop and then came back to the doorway where he produced a kitchen knife from his sleeve before lunging towards him.”
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In footage played to the court, Hayward can be seen launching himself at the man, who quickly closed the door. He is then seen kicking the door and banging the knife against it causing it to crack the glass.
As other people gathered outside he said: “I have just tried to stab him”, before leaving the area.
In a victim impact statement, the shopkeeper said it was the ‘worst day of his life’. He said it was stressful, it made him feel scared and unsafe.
He said he was anxious and concerned that Hayward would come back and ‘stab him in the street. He has since left his job and moved out of Manchester.
Hayward was released on police bail, but months later in February this year, he was caught driving dangerously. Officers were on duty in south Manchester when they spotted a Renault Clio carrying a number of men and being driven by Hayward.
Noticing the police car he turned around in the opposite direction in an attempt to avoid detection. During the pursuit he went through a red light and drove onto the wrong side of the carriageway into oncoming traffic.
The pursuit only came to a stop when all the occupants of the car hauled out, leaving the car to roll into a garden wall.
Hayward was said to have previous convictions for dishonesty and burglary offences.
Mitigating, barrister Ian Whitehurst said Hayward served three years in the Cheshire Regiment of the army from 16 to 19, and was discharged after sustaining an injury to his knee. He has since been involved with a charity which supports veterans, who have suggested he may be suffering with PTSD.
“He is quite keen to engage with that charity upon his release. He is remorseful for his actions. He said at that time in his life he was starting to spiral out of control,” Mr Whitehurst said.
Sentencing, the judge, Recorder Mark Ford QC said: “I noticed you shaking your head when the prosecution outlined your comment to the member of public about ‘just wanting to stab him”.
“This shows the dangers bladed articles present in public, and the possibility that they can be used to inflict very serious injury or can cause some form of psychological injury - that is evident in this case.”
Hayward, of Darras Road, was jailed for 33 months and banned from driving for two years and four months after pleading guilty to possession of a bladed article, using threatening behaviour and dangerous driving
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