Boy, 14, stabbed youngster in the face and slashed another with a garden saw in Leeds playparks

The youngster launched the weapon attacks first at Ashton Road Park in Harehills, then at Potternewton Park in Chapeltown six months later.

The first victim had been to meet friends to play football on the afternoon of January 12, 2021, before going to the play area on Ashton Road. He was confronted by the defendant who was was with another group, prosecutor Ian Howards told Leeds Crown Court.

The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the victim: “Let’s fight.” He then pulled out the Sabatier kitchen knife and plunged it into the victim’s cheek, leaving a 4cm wound.

The boy then took off running, chased by a group. He threw the knife into a garden on Harehills Lane and ran into a laundrette. The police were called who arrested him and retrieved the knife.

He admitted the confrontation but denied the knife attack, claiming the other boy had threatened him with a brick.

On July 17, 2021, the boy came across another youngster of similar age whom he knew and had exchanged insults with before. The defendant pulled out a garden saw and slashed the boy in the face, before swinging at him again and slashing his neck.

A passer-by took the victim to hospital and the defendant was arrested again later that night. He tried to claim he had been at sports training at the time of the attack but CCTV confirmed he was not in the area he claimed.

He continued to deny two counts of wounding with intent and two of possessing a bladed article, so the case was sent to crown court. He later changed his pleas to guilty.

Mitigating, Michael Jowett told the court that the boy, who is now 16, had stayed out of trouble since. He said: “He is not without promise. He does display a remarkable level of understanding of what he did and why it was wrong.

"He thinks a lot about this knife incident and he tells me ‘it is not me’. He shows empathy, regret and genuine remorse. He is a world away from the young man who committed these offences. The risk of sending him to juvenile detention is what influence may act upon him while in custody.”

The judge, Recorder Michael Wheeler, gave him an 18-month youth rehabilitation order, a two-month electronic tag curfew and ordered him to enrol in the accredited Lives Matter programme. He also told him to pay £300 to the knife victim, and £150 to the saw victim.

Recorder Wheeler said: “These are serious offences that caused serious injuries from weapons you took to the scene. You were 14 at the time and should have pleaded guilty at an earlier stage.

"But you seem to have grown up significantly since 2021 and shown a considerable amount of remorse and acknowledgement of what you did. You are in school and have a good attendance record. You have a chance to make something of yourself.”

Recorder Wheeler said of custody: “It would set you back in life.”