Craig Judd was jailed for more than seven years over the ‘ferocious’ attack (Picture: SWNS/Kent Police)
A man nearly bled to death in the street after being repeatedly stabbed by a violent yob who screamed ‘let him die’ as strangers desperately tried to save his life.
Craig Judd, 25, plunged a blade into Caspian Francis’s torso and buttocks four times during in an attack outside his home in Margate, Kent, last August which neither man has offered a motive for.
Judge Simon James jailed him for seven-and-a-half years for the attack, saying it was ‘obvious’ Mr Francis ‘would likely have died’ without swift medical help.
Despite that observation and Judd having initially been charged with attempted murder, prosecutors accepted a guilty plea to the lesser offence of GBH with intent.
Judd was jailed for seven-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court.
The judge told him: ‘For no readily discernible motive, you repeatedly stabbed and seriously injured a man, who has, since his emergency lifesaving surgery and discharge from hospital, refused to assist the police with their enquiries.
‘You are an individual who has demonstrated a capacity for extreme violence with no obvious justification and, consequently, it seems that I am left with little alternative but to conclude that you pose a significant risk.
‘The number of blows, their ferocity and location all point, as do what you were overheard to say, to an individual intent on causing the sort of serious injury, which did in fact result.’
Craig Judd, 25, stabbed a man in the street near his home in Margate, Kent (Picture: Kent Police/SWNS)
The court was told Judd’s neighbours woke to the sound of screaming late on August 13 last year.
Prosecutor Emin Kandola said: ‘Video from a ring doorbell shows the defendant facing the victim, Caspian Francis.
‘The defendant can be seen thrusting the knife four times at Mr Francis, who moves to avoid the knife.’
She added: ‘Bodycam footage stills show the victim lying on the pavement, bleeding from his side, his back and his arms.’
Judd was arrested at the scene with injuries of his own – including a gruesome black eye which can be seen in his mugshot.
Mr Francis was admitted to Kings College Hospital and taken to intensive care to be treated for four stab wounds – two to the rib area on the right side of his body, one to his lower back, and one to his right buttock.
The punctures caused an injury to his small intestine which resulted in his gallbladder having to be removed. He remained in hospital until September 1.
Judd told police he met Mr Francis for the first time that night after returning home from a drinking session.
He said Mr Francis knocked on his door saying, ‘sorry mate, I’m lost’, and then entered his house to charge his phone.
More Trending
Judd claimed he then suffered a blackout and had no recollection of setting upon his victim.
The court also heard Mr Francis has refused to assist authorities with their investigation since the incident.
Judge James rejected Judd’s story of blackouts – saying that there was no medical evidence for this.
‘One approach is to accept that you may have an underlying medical condition, which, until such is diagnosed and treated, demands that you are considered as posing a significant risk of causing serious harm by reason of the commission of further offences,’ he said.
‘But another potentially more cynical, but I would venture to suggest, more realistic stance, is that the silence and claims of a lack of recollection are all a deliberate smokescreen to divert away from the inescapable conclusion that, both you and your victim, know perfectly well what this was all about, but are both reluctant for the court to know the truth and the wider criminal context of your dispute.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.