A CARLISLE dad was repeatedly stabbed by a man he had never met during a terrifying and unprovoked attack outside his family home.

Graeme Armstrong, 35, subjected his victim to what a judge described as an "explosion of anger," stabbing him three times in the leg. He plunged the blade into the man's leg to a depth of 7 cm.  

The defendant was furious because his then girlfriend, a friend of the victim’s partner, had gone to the man’s home and he was asked not to follow her there because of earlier bad behaviour in a pub.

Armstrong admitted an allegation of intentional wounding. At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Brendan Burke described what happened.

Outlining the background, the prosecutor said the defendant’s former partner had been out socialising in Stanwix, in north Carlisle, on April 13 when she took a call from Armstrong, who wanted to be picked up from the Caledonian pub in Botchergate.

She did as he asked.

“They all then went to the Crown pub at Stanwix,” said Mr Burke.

While they were there, Armstrong began demanding his partner hand over her car keys but she was so anxious about that idea that she hid the keys in her friend’s handbag. “But he grabbed the bag, retrieved the keys and ran off,” said Mr Burke.

The two women then went back to the friend’s home where the friend's partner had been relaxing with his baby daughter. While they were there Armstrong rang, saying he wanted to go round.

By that stage, said Mr Burke, the women had told the man who lived there about Armstrong’s behaviour in the pub.

“Nobody wanted him there,” continued Mr Burke. 

“Mr Armstrong was told that and at one point [the victim] took the phone and said he was there with his young daughter and didn’t want the defendant to come round.”

Ten minutes later, however, Armstrong arrived,

The victim, who had never met the defendant, was standing on lawn to the side of his house when he saw the defendant, with a knife in his hand. Armstrong shouted threats at the man and then attacked him, despite the man's attempt to evade him.

Chasing his victim into the back garden, Armstrong scuffled with him, punching him and knocking out a tooth and attempting to gouge his eyes. It was after the man was knocked to the ground that Armstrong stabbed him three times in the leg.

At one point, the victim grabbed a shovel in the hope of defending himself, but this did not prevent him being knocked to the ground.

“Having been stabbed three times, the victim managed to get up and escape. He went into his house and locked the door. The women, who had desperately tried to intervene, were still outside. 

One of the wounds sustained by the victim was 7cm deep, said the prosecutor. Police later found the defendant hiding under a bed at his now former partner’s home.

In a statement, the victim said the attack had left him unable to sleep, and at times suffering from panic and also nightmares. “It ruined his and his partner’s memories of their home” said Mr Burke, adding that they now wanted to move.

The victim described the pain as “through the roof.”

Kim Whittlestone, defending, said Armstrong’s life had “spiralled out of control” over the last two years. A landscape gardener and roofer, he run his own businesses and was in a stable relationship with the mother of his three children.

“Two years ago, she sadly passed away,” said Miss Whittlestone. The defendant, of Stonegarth, Morton, was also diagnosed with kidney cancer and developed sepsis, spending several months in hospital. 

Miss Whittlestone said: “Things spiralled out of control; he was drinking too much on a regular basis and consuming illegal substances.”

But since being remanded into custody, Armstrong had used his time productively, completing 35 courses in a variety of topics, including mental health, alcohol awareness, horticulture and environmental sciences.

“He apologises to the victim,” said the barrister, adding that several members of Armstrong’s family were in court to support him.

Judge Michael Fanning said the defendant’s attack had created a real risk of serious injury. “You went there armed with a knife, intent on violence,” said the judge. There was an “explosion of anger,” said the judge.

Judge Fanning acknowledged the challenges faced by Armstrong but said: “There was a complete and utter loss of control. There are many people who suffer adverse situations  but they don’t resort to violence.”

The judge added: “You have shown you can be rehabilitated; you have made good progress in custody. I am satisfied that on release you will not represent the danger you did on the day you committed this offence.”

He jailed Armstrong for four years and three months, stipulating that he must serve two thirds of that term before he is eligible for release on licence.

As the case concluded, Armstrong said: “Thank you. I’m sorry.” The defendant also admitted possessing a bladed article, the knife, in a public place without a lawful reason.