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Night of terror as knife mob ran riot in city centre
FOUR friends enjoying a night out ended in hospital fighting for their lives after a knifeman high on drink and drugs stabbed and slashed them during horrific scenes of city centre violence.
Daniel Massey was part of a mob which attacked the group, visiting Leeds from Nottingham, after they left a club in the early hours of the morning.
The catalogue of injuries inflicted by Massey included a slashed throat, lacerated liver and a tongue so badly cut that the victim was unable to speak.
Judge Geoffrey Marson QC, who locked up Massey indefinitely, said at Leeds Crown Court: "What happened on the streets of this city in the early hours of that morning amounted to nothing less than terrifying mob violence involving a number of youths attacking innocent visitors to this city and inflicting upon them life- threatening injuries."
Richard Wright, prosecuting, said the violence started with Massey slashing the throat of one of the visitors, Westleigh Burke, severing his jugular vein.
As others in the mob chased and cornered another of the visitors, Robert Felstead, punching and kicking him in Call Lane, Massey prevented two more of his friends helping him by cutting one across the face and stabbing the other in the back.
The face wound cut deep into his victim's mouth, almost severing his tongue and cutting through a wisdom tooth.
Massey then moved in and stabbed Mr Felstead five times in the chest and abdomen, puncturing his lung and lacerating his liver before he could be seen on CCTV to "swagger" off replacing the knife used in his waistband as he left.
As Mr Felstead crouched helpless and bleeding in the road he was kicked in the head like a football by another of the mob, Ashton Campbell.
Massey, 20, of The Avenue, Carlinghow, Batley, admitted attempting to murder Mr Felstead and wounding his three friends with intent, and was given indefinite detention for public protection and ordered to serve a minimum of nine years.
The judge described Massey as dangerous and said he had deliberately used a knife to injure four men, intending to kill one of them. Judge Marson added that Massey had been drinking and taking drugs.
It was "cowardly and vicious behaviour" which the public would expect to be dealt with severely.
He warned Massey that he would only be released when the Parole Board considered him no longer a risk.
Aaron Fleming, 21, of Spencer Place, Chapeltown, Leeds, was jailed for 32 months and Campbell, 20, of Tynwald Drive, Leeds, was sent to a young offender institution for 28 months after both admitted assaulting Mr Felstead and violent disorder.
Mr Wright said Mr Felstead and four friends left a nightclub early on May 5 and were in the Call Lane area when one of their group became involved in an altercation with a girl.
That caused a group of men to approach, including Massey who had a knife with a curved blade in his hand. Without further words he slashed it across Mr Burke's throat causing a horrific injury, exposing the trachea.
Blood began pumping out as the victim put his fingers up to the wound and he heard a voice in the mob say: "They're from out of town, let's do them."
Mr Wright said Mr Burke was taken to hospital by the fifth member of their group after they got away but the other three were chased.
Mr Felstead was caught against railings and hauled over into the road by the mob, led at that stage by Fleming.
When Mr Felstead's friends Ryan Justin and Michael Karim tried to extricate him, Massey turned against them.
He slashed Mr Justin across the face, cutting through his cheek from the corner of his mouth to his lower jaw, and stabbed Mr Karim in the back.
Mr Justin tried to call for help on his mobile only to discover he could not form words because of the damage to his tongue and mouth and a refuse collector who went to his aid was traumatised by what he saw.
Mr Wright said the impact of the violence would be long-lasting on all the victims who still bear the physical scars as well as mental trauma.
Mr Felstead, who needed surgery and missed important examinations to become a quantity surveyor, was present in court to see his attackers sentenced but the other three could not face returning to Leeds.
Anne Munday, for Massey, said he bitterly regretted his actions and wanted to apologise to his victims. He was carrying a knife because of an earlier attack on him.
Kama Melly, for Fleming, said he saw the earlier incident where the girl was pushed by one of the group and lost his temper. "He realised he had gone too far and was horrified when shown the cctv."
Jonathan Carroll, for Campbell, said he was a talented footballer whose involvement was limited to the head kick. He had no idea Mr Felstead had been stabbed.
After the case Det Supt Bill Shackleton said it was purely chance no one was killed.
"This was a horrific attack where four men, who had come to the city just to enjoy a night out, were brutally and calculatingly stabbed one after the other within less than a minute."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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