PUBLIC outrage at knife crime has been highlighted by Nottingham's most senior judge as he locked up a teenager for stabbing a friend.
Judge Michael Stokes QC said the use of knives by young men was one of the public's greatest fears.
Army cadet Callum Harrison, of Beeston, admitting wounding his friend with a kitchen knife – severing an artery in his thigh – following an argument in Chilwell.
Nottingham Crown Court heard how the 18-year-old plasterer's plans for a career in the Armed Forces would be at risk now that he had a criminal record. And Judge Stokes told him he could have been sentenced to life imprisonment if his friend had died.
The case comes as detectives continue to investigate the stabbing of a 16-year-old in Canning Circus last Saturday – a crime that has shocked the city. Two men were arrested and bailed pending further inquiries in connection with that incident.
Judge Stokes told Harrison: "One of the greatest concerns the public have in this country is young men using knives to inflict injury, frequently on other young men.
"This is a case where, following an argument with your friend, Connor Haywood, another 18-year-old, for some extraordinary reasons you chose to go back into your house, arm yourself with what appears to be a large kitchen knife and come back out and stab Connor Haywood in his left thigh."
Judge Stokes sentenced Harrison, of Bramcote Avenue, to 18 months youth custody yesterday, following the attack in May. The judge also called for more action to prevent knife crime.
According to the most recent figures, knife crime in Notts accounts for six per cent of all offences.
In a recent knife amnesty in December, 278 blades were handed in to Notts police.
A film warning of the dangers of knife crime will now be shown to children in Nottingham.
