Man jailed after stabbing victim with combat knife outside Coventry shop
A young man stabbed a stranger twice as he stood outside a convenience store in Coventry for no apparent reason, a court heard.
Shibari Reid lunged at his victim with a combat knife as he tried to back away.
The 21-year-old had approached two young men outside the shop in Harnall Lane East, Coventry and quickly turned violent.
He told officers that he'd launched the attack because they had been abusive to him.
Reid, of Copperfield Road, Stoke, was jailed for six years and 11 months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to wounding with intent.
Derek Johashen, defending, said Reid had come to this country when he was 19 and, with only one much older cousin in the UK, with whom he was staying, had become very isolated.
Jailing Reid, Judge Peter Cooke told him: “You have been described as socially isolated, but that is no excuse for whatever you thought you were doing when you approached and intimidated those two lads.
“I have no idea what on earth led you to behave in that fashion. Your use of a knife, and a particularly unpleasant one, is a higher culpability factor.
“This was outside a busy convenience store during the day, and you had a knife in your hand about to stab this terrified young man.
“Intoxication is no excuse. He was terrified. You had that knife down by your leg as you went towards him and he backed away.
“But as Section 18 (wounding with intent) cases go, the injuries were relatively minor, and he has made a full recovery, it seems.”
