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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Lynda Roughley & Abigail Nicholson

Knife-wielding man threw chair at students celebrating birthday

A knifeman threw a chair over a garden wall at students celebrating a 21st birthday.

Kevin Wilson, 47, said he "reached the end of his tether" with the university students living next door as they had a "very noisy late night party" on June 21 of last year. By 1.30am Wilson confronted a number of the party-goers, who were in the back garden of the property on Thornycroft Road, Wavertree.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Wilson appeared on the wall of their garden and started angrily shouting at them while waving a knife. Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, said: "He then threw a metal garden chair over the wall which hit a female in the face. It connected directly to the front of her face and temple which led her to stumble backwards and her nose began to bleed."

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Miss Nemat said the victim was ushered inside and the incident continued with Wilson straddling the wall and shouting and waving the knife towards the students and people at the property. The victim suffered a cut nose, bruising and swelling to her forehead and two black eyes.

The court heard police arrived at the scene and Wilson approached officers and spoke about the noise level and said the students were "terrorising elderly residents". When interviewed he repeated his comments about students terrorising people.

References from other neighbours supported Wilson and detailed earlier problems, which Judge Louise Brandon accepted.

She said: "It is clear you and neighbours struggled with anti-social behaviour specifically at the house where this incident occurred and despite seeking assistance from the police and the property management company you had not been helped. By 1.30am you reached the end of your tether - which does not justify what you did, and it doesn’t allow you to take the law into your own hands."

But she told Wilson: "It provides some explanation why a man with no history of violence behaved at you did."

In a victim impact statement from the student who was hit in the face, said she still has a lump on her head and believes she should have sought medical help at the time as she may have had concussion. She said she had been “extremely shaken and frightened, especially when I saw him with a knife.”

Kevin Wilson, 47, of Thornycroft Road pleaded guilty to affray after hurling a chair over a garden wall at students (Lynda Roughley)

The young woman said she didn't know what Wilson was capable of and added she is now more on edge when walking around by herself. Wilson, of Thornycroft Road, who only has one previous conviction involving burglary, pleaded guilty to affray.

Judge Brandon imposed a 12 month community order and ordered Wilson to carry out 80 hours unpaid work.

Peter White, defending, said: “He clearly lost his temper and behaved inappropriately. He acknowledges that.”

He had had a stressful day including visiting his dementia-suffering dad and came home and drank two cans of beer. He could not get any rest because of the party noise despite having made polite requests for it to be turned down.

He had previously done everything appropriately and made complaints to the owners of the property but it had not resolved the on-going situation. He did not take a knife out with him but picked it up from the garden of the adjoining property on his way to reach the wall.

Mr White said: “He accepts in frustration he threw the chair. He threw it from the other side of the wall and was reckless who might be hit.”

Mr White said the incident was “an aberration” and that night “he lost his cool and behaved in a totally inappropriate way".

Judge Brandon said Wilson helped and supported people in the local community and is also the sole carer for his father and involved in caring for his uncle.

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