Merry Hill stabbing: Teenager locked up for eight years
A teenager who sparked violence at a Black Country shopping centre that left a 19-year-old man close to death has been locked up for eight years.
Ronan Parker was 'looking for trouble' when he barged through a four strong group - two men and two women - who were walking in the opposite direction at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Then the 19-year-old defendant turned to stare at them, prompting an angry exchange of words that ended with a challenge to go outside for a fight, explained Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting.
Mason Smith removed his shirt as he and the other young man from the group walked away followed by Parker whom one of the young women saw remove a knife and hide it behind his back.
She tried to warn Mr Smith and the other man without success before trouble flared, continued Mr Searle.
Mr Smith turned to look at Parker and threw a punch before the defendant stabbed him once, cutting into the victim's spleen, the court was told.
The knife man fled in to the nearby Marks and Spencer store pursued by Smith but managed to give the injured man the slip.
Parker pulled up his hood and walked towards the exit but was spotted by an off duty policeman who followed him outside the shopping centre where the attacker was arrested.
The flick knife with a four inch blade used in the stabbing was discovered a short distance from where he was detained around 11.30am on July 8.
The defendant claimed that one the group - not Mr Smith - had a knuckle duster and one was later found near the entrance to the shopping centre. The man he was with at the time had been prosecuted for possession of a bladed article two months earlier, said Mr Searle.
Mr Smith, who did not immediately realise the seriousness of the injury, was rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and was not discharged for five days.
He later told police he was frightened after discovering the true nature of the injury and confessed: 'I thought I was going to die.'
His grandmother, Mrs Beverley Smith, said he developed mood swings and had trouble sleeping after the attack but expects him to make a good recovery.
Mr Robert Cowley, defending, said Parker had carried a knife 'for protection' since being beaten over the head with a baseball bat by a gang 12 months earlier.
He added: "There was plainly provocation on this occasion. He was punched first and there was a single use of the knife in response."
Kitchen worker Parker, from Dixons Green Road, Dudley, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was given eight years detention in a Young Offenders Institution by Judge Simon Ward who told him: "Being a victim of an assault in the past is no excuse for carrying a knife. People who do that often end up using the knife with terrible consequences.
"It seems you were looking for trouble and when you challenged them to come outside they were not to know you had a knife.
"Mason Smith took his shirt off indicating he was up for a fight. You had the knife in your hand when he hit you and you caused a deep and potentially life threatening injury. he could have died."
