Boy 'lucky to be alive' after being repeatedly stabbed and hit with a baseball bat on Leeds street

Leeds Crown Court was told that Zachary Loveday-Sims was lucky not to be facing a murder charge for the bloody attack on the 17-year-old on Potternewton Lane in Meanwood .

The victim, who did not know Loveday-Sims, had been walking along the road at around 6.20pm on March 27 last year. When he reached the junction with Farm Hill North, he heard a man shout “yo” who was walking towards him, prosecutor Felicity Hemlin told the court.

Loveday-Sims then pulled out the bat and swung it twice, connecting with the man’s head. The victim fought back and Loveday-Sims dropped the bat, but he then reached into his pocket and pulled out the knife.

Lunging at the teenager, he stabbed him several times to the back, arm and abdomen as the pair struggled. Members of the public tried to intervene before Loveday-Sims relented and shouted at the stricken victim: “If you chat s*** to me again I will kill you.”

He then got into a car and drove away. The man required hospital but luckily his 11 wounds were not life threatening. Loveday-Sims was later arrested at his home address but provided a prepared statement during his police interview, denying he caused the injuries, then refused to answer further questions.

However, the 26-year-old was picked out in an identity parade and DNA found matched him. He later admitted Section 18 GBH with intent, possession of a bladed article and possession of an offensive weapon.

He has previous convictions including attempted robbery, possession of a bladed article, battery and dealing cannabis. He is currently serving a 22-month sentence for attacking his partner after he stamped on her and bit her. Having been jailed in May of this year, the baseball and knife attack predated that offence.

Mitigating, Michael Walsh said Loveday-Sims did not know the victim, but was sent by another person to settle a drug debt from him. He said of Loveday-Sims: "He will have spent several years in custody by the time he is released and he might have matured in that time.”

Judge Simon Batiste told Loveday-Sims, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds: “This could have easily have been a murder charge. The circumstances of this are quite frankly, extremely worrying.

"You attacked a 17-year-old in a vicious and persistent manner. It’s not clear why that attack took place. The victim claims he does not know you, but you claim he owed money to another person and in effect, you were going to enforce that debt.

“Whatever the reason was, you armed yourself with a baseball bat and a knife. It was an entirely unprovoked attack. He, by miracle, suffered physical injuries that were not that great, given the sheer number of wounds.”

He jailed Loveday-Sims for a total of eight-and-half years, made up of four-and-half years’ custody, and four years on an extended licence period. It will consecutively to his existing 22-month sentence.