A teen who stabbed another boy in the chest was told by a judge he was lucky not to be facing a murder charge.
Kyle Barton plunged the six-inch kitchen knife into the 16-year-old boy’s chest in a city centre street causing a lung to collapse and penetrating his liver. Liverpool Crown Court heard Barton, now 17, had chased and threatened to stab the victim and his friend in an earlier incident seven months previously after a dispute about a bicycle.
Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, said the incident happened at 4pm on November 24, 2021, when the victim was waiting for a bus on Renshaw Street after leaving college. She said the two young men knew each other after an earlier incident between Barton and the victim’s friend, who argued after a disagreement about the purchase of a bike.
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Barton asked the boy if he was still friends with the pal and when he confirmed he was Barton produced a kitchen knife and stabbed him to the right side of his sternum.
Miss Nemat said: “The victim ran back to college and was taken to hospital by ambulance. He was taken to Aintree Hospital and a blood transfusion commenced. A CT scan showed the wound had passed through his lower chest causing blood and air in the chest cavity and the knife had also penetrated his liver."
A chest drain was inserted and left in place for three days. Another scan showed his liver was no longer bleeding and he was allowed home. In a victim impact statement he told how 16 months later he is still in pain when he sleeps or stretches.
He said he had lost a lot of blood and as a result of his serious injuries.
He added: "I nearly died and was very fearful that I would die. Thinking I would die is something I will never get over and come to terms with.”
He said he has been left with two scars on his chest which remind him of the attack every day when he sees them. He also now rarely goes out socialising and when he does he keeps looking over his shoulder and worrying.
The victim added he is now at a different college but had lost a year’s education and worries about his future opportunities. Miss Nemat said Barton was found in possession of cannabis three days after the assault and five months earlier he had been found in possession of crack cocaine and cannabis in South Cumbria.
He has since received two referral orders for three months for those offences. Barton, of Angela Street, Toxteth, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possessing a bladed article.
Judge David Aubrey, KC, who lifted an order banning Barton’s identity from being revealed after an application by the press, told him, “This is yet again another case of a young man being in possession of a knife who asserts he was holding that knife for perceived self-protection.
“And it is yet another case of a young man not only in possession of a knife but using that knife on another young man and the consequences could have been fatal. It is by the grace of God that you are not before this court for an offence of murder."
He continued: “There was an element of revenge in your case and while it cannot be said there was significant premeditation the court must take into account the background as far as the commission of this offence is concerned.”
He also imposed a ten year restraining order to keep away from the victim.
Peter White, defending, pointed out there had been a considerable delay in progressing the case which was not the defendant’s fault and Judge Aubrey said he would investigate the reasons for the delay.
Mr White said: "He is an extremely young man who has a very difficult background and a youth offending report paints a rather sad picture of him struggling in the family home, freezing with fear when his parent enter. He is now finding more stability and perhaps a happier home life while residing with his grandmother."
He said Barton was quite vulnerable and perhaps open to peer group pressure. He had been stabbed himself and in the drugs case in Cumbria there was reference to him being a victim of modern day slavery.
Mr White added: “He wants to apologise to the victim and family and he concedes it has had a catastrophic effect on a young man’s life."
Referring to the earlier incident Mr White said: “He disputes he chased him or threatened to stab him but accepts they had a fight at some point.”
He conceded that a report recommending a two year rehabilitation order was unrealistic.
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