Jury clear him of deliberately hurting 'spitting' youth

A BUS DRIVER has been acquitted of deliberately slashing the wrist of a 16-year-old schoolboy in a revenge attack because he spat in his face the night before.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court took less than 30 minutes to find Anthony Davies not guilty of wounding with intent.

But Davies, 51, of Belgrave Street, Wallasey, who had pleaded guilty to unlawfully wounding the Wirral teenager with a craft knife, was jailed for six months.

Judge Ian Campbell told the father-of-two: "The difficulty is that a weapon was used by you which caused a wicked injury." Fortunately the back of the boy's wrist had recovered, but there was public disquiet at the use of weapons, he said.

"This started with you as the victim of what seems to me was a criminal assault when you were spat upon by a young man who was to become the victim of this unlawful wounding.

"It was disgusting . . . a thing which society cannot tolerate towards a public servant - up to that point, everybody's sympathy is with you.

"It was not sensible to approach him. You were struck by him when you went to get hold of him and were given a black eye. Their followed the attack which led to you drawing a knife and using it.

"It is there that you lose the sympathy of all right-thinking people. "Unhappily, I have come to the conclusion there is a price to pay to society. Just as society abhors what the boy did, society cannot condone the use of knives."

During the two-day trial, the court heard that the boy, now aged 17 and who cannot be named for legal reasons, spat in Davies's face when leaving his Red Rider bus near the Anchor pub in Irby.

Davies said that he had been covered in spit and sat up until 2.30am talking to his terminally ill mother, who has since died, about what had happened. Unable to get much sleep, he got up at 7am and decided to see the headmaster.

"I wanted to take the boy to the headmaster and explain what he had done. I would have been satisfied if the headmaster had stood him in front of the school and said, 'This boy spits at people doing their job'," he said.

Davies said he saw the boy by chance walking along Irby Road towards the school. He started talking to him when he felt a poke in his right eye. "I didn't see what he hit me with," he added.

Davies said the boy had hold of his wrists and he managed to break one free.

"I really thought he was going to hit me again and I just wanted to get away. At some time in this struggle I must have realised I had this knife in my pocket from a couple of days previously and it came out and unfortunately the poor boy was wounded," said Davies. He denied he had gone looking for the boy.

Davies's counsel, Richard Pratt, said that Davies, a man of previous good character, had been subject to violence immediately before the attack. He understood that the boy, whom the court heard is no longer at Pensby High School, was cautioned by police as a result of what he did. Davies had been 'on the edge emotionally', and had been dismissed because of this incident, he added.

The court heard the boy spent two days in hospital, where hand tendons were repaired.

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