COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

A 14-year-old boy is in a critical condition after being stabbed in the neck in Coventry.



Police said the attack happened at about 17:40 BST on Monday after the boy left the Lifestyle Express Store in Upper Spon Street.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said it was thought the boy was attacked by a man with a large carving knife.

A 32-year-old Coventry man has been arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

A second man, aged 41, has also been arrested in connection with the offence.

The boy has undergone emergency surgery and been transferred to a specialist hospital unit in Nottinghamshire.

'Covered in blood'

Det Insp Martin Slevin said: "It appears the lad was in the newsagents with a female friend when an argument broke out with a man.

"The victim left the shop and seconds later, no more than 15 yards from the shop entrance, was stabbed in the neck by a large bladed knife."

He appealed for anyone who saw the attack or a man running away from the scene to contact police.

"The offender would have been covered in blood and again I'd ask for anyone who believes they saw this person to contact me," he said.

Police have cordoned off the area in Upper Spon Street while they carry out a forensic search.

Cops continue to question man over Spon End stabbing

DETECTIVES investigating the stabbing of a Coventry schoolboy in Spon End have been granted further time to question a man in connection with the attack.

The 32-year-old, who is from Coventry, is being held on suspicion of stabbing the 14-year-old on Monday afternoon outside a newsagent in Upper Spon Street, Spon End.

Officers have successfully applied to city magistrates for a custody extension and now have until tomorrow morning to continue quizzing the suspect.

The teenage victim - named by police as Declan Thomas - of Spon End, has undergone further surgery in a specialist hospital unit in Nottinghamshire.

His condition is now described as critical but stable.

A second man, aged 41, was also arrested in connection with the offence but was released yesterday without charge.

Witnesses or anyone with information about the attack is urged to contact Coventry Police Force CID at Chace Avenue Police Station on 0345 113 5000 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

A Coventry man has appeared in court charged with attempted murder after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed in the neck on Monday.

Phillip O'Sullivan, of Coundon Road, appeared before city magistrates earlier, following the incident in Upper Spon Street, Spon End.

Mr O'Sullivan, 32, was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Warwick Crown Court next Thursday.

The teenage victim remains in a stable condition in hospital.

Coventry knifeman found guilty of attempted murder

A DRUNK who stabbed a Coventry schoolboy in the neck with a carving knife at a city shop has been found guilty of attempted murder.

Phillip O’Sullivan, 33, of Coundon Road, Radford, attacked the 14-year-old with the stolen blade.

Moments earlier, he had accused the Westwood Academy pupil and his girlfriend of staring at him at the Lifestyle Express Store, in Upper Spon Street, Spon End.

When the teenager left the shop, O’Sullivan ran up behind him and thrust the blade into his neck, rupturing his jugular vein.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how the lad would most likely have died had it not been for the swift actions of a passer-by who used his T-shirt as a makeshift tourniquet to stem the blood loss. Blood-stained O’Sullivan ran two miles across the city in an attempt to flee, at one stage trying to flag down a taxi near Ikea, in Croft Road, but was soon cornered by firearms officers in Gulson Road on October 3, last year.

He denied attempted murder, insisting he never intended to kill or even seriously injure the teenager, but a jury yesterday dismissed his claims and found him guilty by a majority verdict.

O’Sullivan was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Friday, May 25.

The victim underwent emergency surgery and was transferred to a specialist hospital unit in Nottinghamshire where his condition gradually improved.

Speaking after the hearing, Det Insp Martin Slevin, who led the investigation, said: “This was a cowardly attack by a grown man on a young boy whilst his back was turned.

“The victim has thankfully made a good recovery but, had it not been for the intervention and immediate first aid administered by a local man, this could easily have been a murder trial.

“I’m grateful for the co-operation of the Spon End community who helped with the investigation; several people came forward as witnesses and their information has helped convict O’Sullivan.

“The police and courts view carrying knives in public very seriously and anyone caught with one in their possession should expect a prison sentence regardless of whether they use it.”

After the stabbing, Coventry Police launched an anti-knife crime initiative called Operation Blade, which continues to see officers patrolling the street with hand-held metal detectors to rid the streets of weapons.

Airport-style metal-detector arches have also been placed in certain pubs and on some bus routes.

A violent drunk who knifed a Coventry schoolboy in the neck outside a city shop has been jailed for a minimum of 11-and-a-half years.



Phillip O’Sullivan plunged a stolen 20cm blade into 14-year-old Declan Thomas because he thought the lad had looked at him “the wrong way”.

The brutal attack outside Lifestyle Express, in Upper Spon Street, Spon End, last October left the Westwood Academy pupil bleeding heavily from two severed arteries.

Had it not been for the swift actions of a passer-by who bravely broke up the attack, and who used his T-shirt to stem the blood loss before paramedics arrived, Declan would have died.

O’Sullivan, aged 33, of Coundon Road, Radford, denied one count of attempted murder, but was convicted by a jury on a majority verdict following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court in May.

And in front of Declan and his family, who sat silently in the public gallery, O’Sullivan was yesterday jailed by Judge Paul Farrer QC for an indeterminate length of time to protect the public.

He must serve at least 11-and-a-half years before he is considered for parole.

Judge Farrer told him: “This was a cowardly, unprovoked attack with a deadly weapon upon a 14-year-old schoolboy.

"As he retreated from you, you reached for a knife, you pursued him and you lashed out at his neck and chest.

“The blood loss would have been fatal had it not been for the commendable action of (a passer-by).”

The court heard O’Sullivan had previous convictions for theft, shoplifting, burglary and criminal damage, and had problems with alcohol.

In 2001 he was jailed for four months for threatening to stab a shop security guard and biting a member of the public and in 2008 he was jailed for four weeks for possessing a bladed article in public.

Hugh O’Brien-Quinn, prosecuting, said the attack had had “far-reaching effects, both physical and psychological” on Declan, who was now battling post-traumatic stress, depression and nightmares.

The barrister said: “For such a minor assumed slight that either Declan or his girlfriend had looked at the defendant in the wrong way, it was such a gross over-reaction.”

Peter Cooper, defending, had argued against an indeterminate sentence, saying: “His last conviction for violence was 11 years ago.”

He added: “Mr O’Sull–ivan has confirmed his deep regret but he is conscious of the inadequacy of anything he can say.

“He would like to apologise to the victim and his family.

“But he knows it’s just words, and that it would be an insult to them.”