Thug, 27, cut victim’s hand in half
A MAN is facing jail after being found guilty of cutting a person’s hand ‘in two’ in a ‘chilling’ attack outside a Castlefield bar.
Minutes before the horrific incident, Ryan McPhee told the victim and his friends: “You don’t want to mess with me, I will hurt you.”
The 27-year-old has now been unanimously convicted of unlawful wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm by a jury following a Manchester Crown Court trial.
He was remanded into custody and will be sentenced in November.
During the trial, jurors were told that McPhee had already admitted possessing an offensive weapon.
The victim was out enjoying a night out with friends at Barca Bar in Castlefield on Friday, March 16, when he was approached by McPhee and another man.
They began to shout abuse at the man, a 35-year-old sales manager, and his friends.
The man tried to act as peacemaker and calm down the situation, but matters became ‘heated,’ the court heard.
McPhee continued to abuse the group and threatened them, saying: “You don’t want to mess with me, I will hurt you.”
The man, trying to protect his friends, moved himself between them and McPhee. Prosecutors said it was then that McPhee turned to his friend and said: “Get me the machete.”
“McPhee took the machete above his head and brought it down towards the man’s head,” prosecutor Amanda Johnson told the jury.
“As he put his hands up to protect himself, the machete went through his hand, cutting it in half and severing his right thumb and part of his palm.
“Everyone realised how seriously he was injured and he was taken back into the bar and first aid was given while an ambulance was called.
“The severed part of his hand was put in ice and given to ambulance staff.”
After being attacked, the man spent five nights in hospital. Recounting his ordeal in a police interview played to jurors, the victim recalled seeing ‘blood everywhere.’
He said: “There was a few of us outside chatting, it was about 10pm. There was a lad kicking off with a group of people next to me. I went over and few words were exchanged, it got a bit heated. “There was a guy standing with a bike a few feet away and the guy that was kicking off turned to his mate and said ‘let’s get the machete out.’ That is when my memory cuts out. I just remember feeling a pain in my hand and as I looked down I saw that my hand had been cut in two.” In a public appeal released to help find the perpetrators, GMP said: “The way the offender pulled the machete out and brutally struck this innocent man without hesitation is chilling.”
Mr McPhee, of Planetree Road, Partington, Trafford, will be sentenced in November. Attack victim