The knife wound was so severe it sliced the victim’s liver
Police officer on patrol in Wales.(Image: 2023 Matthew Horwood)
A 16-year-old boy who was stabbed by another teenager in Bangor, Gwynedd, feared he might not survive the attack. The stab wound went “seven centimetres into the victim’s chest”, before the attacker, also 16, fled the scene.
The victim was rushed to hospital in Bangor with a collapsed lung and other injuries before being transferred to hospital in Stoke. Footage of the assault was shared on social media.
The victim expressed his desire to confront his attacker, and tell him: “I am still alive.” The defendant pleaded guilty to wounding the victim and being in possession of a knife in a private place.
He was sentenced to two years and nine months in what is expected to be a young offenders institution. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here
The defendant and the victim cannot be identified by court order, reports North Wales Live.
The court was told that North Wales Police received several 999 calls one summer evening about young people fighting.
Someone stopped to administer first aid until police and paramedics arrived.
The injured boy was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor for a CT scan before being transferred to the Royal Stoke University Hospital and the suspect was later located and arrested by officers.
Prosecutor Will Griffin revealed that the knife wound was so severe it sliced the victim’s liver. The teenager spent a week in a high dependency unit at a trauma centre in Stoke.
In a statement, the victim said the pain was so intense he would rather “snap my arm in half before going through it again”.
At night, he keeps seeing himself “getting stabbed again and again”. The video was shared online and went viral.
The victim said he struggled to come to terms with the incident because he doesn’t even know his attacker and his parents were very upset.
In his statement, the victim also said that the “amazing” nurses did their best to take good care of him. But he added: “I feel so lucky. The injury could have killed me.
“I don’t expect to get stabbed when I walk out of my house. I believe he tried to kill me.
“I would like him to know that his attempt failed and I’m still alive, and I’m still standing.” But he said he will be “paranoid” about the intentions of people he meets in future.
Dafydd Roberts, defending, said it was one stab in a relatively short-lived incident before the defendant ran away. He also said the victim was the “initial aggressor”.
Mr Roberts quoted an expert’s report which said the “troubled” defendant has experienced trauma and mental health issues. He also has “limitations in his planning and impulse control”.
The judge, Her Honour Nicola Jones noted the 16-year-old victim’s physical injuries but said “the psychological impact is yet to be seen”.
The defendant will serve half the two years and nine months in detention, less time spent on remand, and the remainder on licence. There was no separate penalty for possessing the knife.
The judge made a restraining order for seven years preventing the defendant from contacting his victim, among other conditions.
She said the offence was very serious but he shouldn’t let it crush him and he should think about the future when he is released.