Man stabbed in the chest as he waited outside Leeds Sainsbury's store
A man was stabbed in the chest and repeatedly punched following a planned attack outside a Leeds supermarket.
The victim was set about by two men as he waited for his girlfriend at the Sainsbury’s Local in Moortime at around teatime and just days before Christmas.
Jack Furlong and Jack Palliser-Simpson both admitted Section 20 GBH and were handed suspended sentences at Leeds Crown Court this week.
The victim was stood outside the store on Harrogate Road at 5pm on December 21, 2022.
He was approached by three men wearing face coverings, including the two defendants.
Palliser-Simpson, 20, pulled out a knife and lunged at the man, stabbing him in the upper chest, prosecutor Harry Crowson said.
Furlong, 21, then wildly swung punches at the man’s head. The victim was able to get away and ran into a fish and chip shop next door where the police and ambulance were called.
He suffered a wound to the top of his head from the punches, while the knife wound had luckily missed his lung but is thought to have penetrated his spleen.
Both defendants were initially charged with Section 18 GBH with intent, later reduced to Section 20 GBH.
Furlong, 21, of Nunroyd Avenue, Moor Allerton, has no previous convictions. Palliser-Simpson of St Hilda’s Road, Romanby, North Yorkshire, has four convictions for five offences.
Mitigating for Furlong, Kara Frith said there was no dispute with the Crown’s case, and added: “He takes responsibility. He does not minimise his actions and admits he is the instigator.
“It’s clearly orchestrated in some way. He has shown remorse and regret and insight into the offence.”
For Palliser-Simpson, Ian Hudson said his client had serious mental health issues, including PTSD and schizophrenia.
He said he was “clearly unwell” at the time, had heard voices from when he was youngster and at the time of the attack, he was suffering delusions about people being robots and was convinced that his own eye was a camera.
Judge Simon Batiste conceded that both defendants had very difficult childhoods and that they had stayed out of trouble since.
He gave Furlong an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, with 70 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation days.
Palliser-Simpson was given a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, with a six-month GPS-tag monitoring order and 30 rehabilitation days.