Man pistol whipped and slashed pal in a row over drugs
AN angry man shouted “I will kill you” as he beat his friend with a pistol and slashed his face and thighs with a kitchen knife.
John Alexander McLean set upon the victim in front of two women in the flat in Pevensey Road, Loughborough, in the early hours of Saturday, March 14.
Leicester Crown Court was told the victim sustained a gash to the top of his head from the air pistol and a six-inch laceration from his eyebrow down the side his face.
Richard Thatcher, prosecuting, said the injured man was in fear of his life at the time. He was left feeling “embarrassed” about a small residual scar in the area of his eye and has since moved address.
He said, in a victim impact statement, he felt intimidated by the defendant even though they had known each other for several years.
McLean, formerly of Cambridge Street, Loughborough, admitted unlawful wounding, possessing an imitation firearm, a Swiss Arms .357 air pistol, with intent to cause fear of violence and possession of an offensive weapon, a kitchen knife with an eight-inch blade.
The prosecutor said the two men had smoked crack cocaine together earlier in the day. McLean became angry because he believed the complainant had obtained a further amount and consumed it himself instead of sharing.
The victim told the 38-year-old defendant, over the phone, he had “lost” any additional drugs.
Mr Thatcher said: “McLean was angry and threatening to stab him.
“He turned up at the complainant’s flat with two females and was clearly unhappy about his attitude towards him over the phone.”
It is unclear whether the weapons were already in the flat, but McLean began fighting with the occupant and both ended up on the floor. He used the airgun to “pistol whip” the man’s head and slashed his face with the knife.
Further lacerations were inflicted on each of the man’s thighs as the defendant repeatedly threatened “I’m going to kill you.” McLean then ceased the attack and left, said Mr Thatcher.
He added: “He came to his senses and disposed of the knife, gun and his bloodstained tracksuit bottoms in two bags in a wheelie bin.”
They were discovered by a neighbour and found to have DNA of both the defendant and victim on.
The court heard McLean had previously attacked someone in the street with a knife in 2001, when he was 19, and had other offences including knife possession on his record.
Judge Ebraham Mooncey said: “It was a sustained assault on the victim when weapons were used on him in his own home.
“There’s now a small scar on his face because, mostly, the cuts were superficial.
“There was also an attempt to conceal evidence afterwards.”
Lisa Hardy, mitigating, said: “It was a fight between two men who had been friends and it went way too far - and he very much regrets it.”
She said McLean had written the victim a heartfelt apology letter, saying how deeply sorry he was.
Both had been heavy users of crack cocaine at the time and the defendant, a father of four who was soon to become a grandad, had reflected on his wrongdoing and was determined to be a better role model in future.
She said the defendant grew up on an estate in Glasgow where drug misuse and carrying weapons “was the norm”.
McLean was jailed for three years and 10 months.
He was placed on a restraining order banning contact with the victim.