Prison for thug who stabbed man in back
ATHUG has been jailed after stabbing a man in the back during an argument over a stolen bank card.
Ben Cronshaw, 24, of Edward Street, Rishton was also sentenced for his role in a three-on-one vicious attack on a man outside the Royal Oak in Sparth Road, Clayton-leMoors on October 4, 2020.
After initially becoming involved in disorder, Cronshaw and his codefendants 28-year-old David Osbaldeston and 24-year-old Aaron Walsh, began making threats with a knife towards the landlady’s partner, Terry Burt, after he came outside to break up the altercation.
As the three defendants left the pub, Osbaldeston grabbed a brick and threw it at Mr Burt’s head.
Walsh also picked up a brick and threw it in the direction of the pub. Cronshaw also played his part in the violence.
Mr Burt, aged 50, suffered a nasty head wound which required stitches.
The stabbing incident happened on July 3 last year, after the victim had gone to confront Cronshaw having received information that the defendant had broken into his partner’s car, stolen her bank card and then used it at a nearby off-licence.
Having initially tried to speak to Cronshaw at the home of one his friend’s, the victim - a man in his 30s - later saw the defendant in Hereford Road, Blackburn.
A verbal altercation took place during which Cronshaw told the victim that he would get Osbaldeston to attack him.
Cronshaw pulled out a knife and when the victim turned away from him, he felt a tap on his back. When he returned home, the victim realised he had been stabbed.
When Cronshaw was arrested he claimed he had found the bank card but did admit fraudulently using it.
He initially denied he was at the scene of the stabbing, but after being presented with CCTV evidence from the scene, he admitted being there but claimed the item seen in his hand was not a knife but a Bunsen Burner.
In relation to that incident he was convicted of Section 18 wounding, theft from a motor vehicle, fraud by false representation and possessing a bladed article in a public place.
For those offences, he was given a custodial sentence totalling six years and eight months. He was also given a two-year extended licence period after a judge deemed him to be a dangerous offender.
In relation to the Royal Oak incident Walsh pleaded guilty to violent disorder and was given a sentence totalling 32 months. That will be served concurrently to the wounding offence.
Osbaldeston, of Shuttleworth Street, Rishton, and Aaron Walsh, of Dill Hall Lane, Accrington, were last year jailed for a combined total of 27 years and three months for their roles in the Royal Oak incident.
DC Liam Jarman, of East CID, said: “The shocking and excessive use of violence by Cronshaw and his co-defendants could quite easily have resulted in somebody being killed. Their actions were both reckless and cowardly, especially considering the fact
the victims in both cases were unarmed.”
DS Steve Munro, of East CID, said: “I would like to praise my colleagues for
the hard work and professionalism they showed while investigating these extremely serious and violent offences.”