Knife threat man ‘could have killed’ teenage boy

A TEENAGER revising for his GCSEs in a library was left terrified after a hooded man stormed in and put a knife to his throat - in an attack a judge said ‘could have killed him.’

Callum Coady, 18, burst into a library at the Arcadia Leisure Centre in Levenshulme, armed with a Stanley knife.

He approached his 16-year-old victim from behind, and said ‘you all right?,’ to which the boy replied ‘yes.’

Coady then produced the knife from his pocket and put it to the boy’s throat, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The victim, who did not know Coady, managed to break free and run away.

Prosecuting, Brian Berlyne said Coady gave chase and slashed at the boy on two more occasions, but did not make contact.

He managed to grab the boy, and scratched him with his fingernails.

But again the boy broke free and managed to escape, and did not suffer serious injuries. In a victim impact statement, the boy said he was scared to leave the house following the attack – and that he believes the incident affected his exam results.

After being arrested, Coady told officers a group of people had ‘insulted him’ at the leisure centre earlier that day, and that he had felt ‘intimidated.’

He returned to the centre at about 8.30pm on May 25 and launched his attack, armed with a Stanley knife taken from his family’s home.

Coady, of Lonsdale Road, Levenshulme, was hauled before the courts and pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful wounding.

Defending, Patrick Buckley said: “He is a young man and clearly has issues, how pronounced they are, it’s difficult to say.

“He has been a worry for his parents for a long time.”

The court heard that Coady, who has no previous convictions, had suffered from ‘significant ill-health’ in his childhood – and that he has ‘locked himself