Leamington man given suspended sentence for knife attack

Warwickshire Justice Centre in Leamington, where Warwick Crown Court sits

And in the incident which followed the other man suffered a cut to his hand as he tried to defend himself.

But despite the potentially serious outcome, aggressor Harminder Bassi was not jailed.

Bassi, 41, of Victoria Terrace, Leamington, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to assaulting his victim Jevan Clarke and threatening him with a knife.

He was sentenced to nine months in prison suspended for two years, with supervision for the whole period, and was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

Prosecutor Ian Speed said that in December last year Bassi was in a night club in Leamington where there was some concern that he had attempted to steal a jacket.

“That was not his intention, but Jevan Clarke and his group took exception, and there was a verbal altercation.”

Bassi left the club, but later came across Mr Clarke in the street and there was a further argument, during which it was suggested there was some racial abuse.

Bassi, who was near his home, went back there and armed himself with a kitchen knife before returning to the street to attack Mr Clarke.

During that confrontation Mr Clarke suffered a cut to his hand as he raised it to defend himself.

But Mr Speed pointed out that Mr Clarke had very fairly described the wound as superficial.

When Bassi, who had two previous convictions for possessing offensive weapons, was arrested he said he had been intoxicated and had little knowledge of what had gone on.

Before being addressed by Bassi’s barrister, Recorder Adam Feest indicated that he would follow the recommendation in the pre-sentence report on him.

And Recorder Feest told Bassi: “Anybody who returns home and collects a knife to use in any way, either directly or to threaten someone with, deserves to go to prison.

“The use of knives needs to be stamped down on very quickly, because it doesn’t take much for the sort of injury you caused to become GBH or even worse.

“But because of your plea at an early stage and the gap in your offending or nearby 15 years, I’m going to suspend the sentence.”