Albanians jailed for stabbing NewsQuest Media

Albanians jailed for stabbing
NewsQuest Media - July 11, 2003

TWO Albanians who knifed a man in a savage revenge attack in Woodford Green have both been jailed for six years.

The pair Valder Spahiu 18 and his 17-year-old accomplice who cannot be named for legal reasons were both found guilty of wounding with intent.

They both face deportation to Kosovo after serving their prison sentences. Their victim insurance salesman Nicholas Williams almost bled to death after his bowel was sliced open by the 17-year-old Albanian who hunted down Mr Williams with Spahiu following a party on September 27 last year.

During the hearing which began in April the Old Bailey heard that the two Albanians from Shirley Grove Edmonton were at a friend's party in Underwood Road Woodford Green when a fight broke out.

The 17-year-old Albanian was robbed and left with a bloody gash to his head after being hit with a vodka bottle but his attackers fled the party and he and his accomplice Spahiu gave chase in their Ford Granada.

Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson told the court: "It appears the two defendants were bent on revenge. They left the house in a hurry and drove off at speed.

"They caught up with Mr Williams and the 17-year-old got out of the car. Mr Williams saw he was carrying a large kitchen knife.

"The 17-year-old grabbed him by the shoulder and without saying a word stabbed him in the stomach. The defendant got back in the car and the two men drove off. Mr Williams staggered across the road to some shops and collapsed."

The badly injured victim managed to stumble to a nearby shopping parade on the Orchard Estate where an ambulance was called.

He was given life-saving treatment at Whipps Cross Hospital after losing a large amount of blood and was found to have a four inch stab wound which had severed two main arteries and sliced through 70 per cent of his bowel.

Jailing the pair for six years Judge Charles Radford said: "While I accept your decision to seek out someone to stab was made in hot blood it was nonetheless a joint decision.

"It involved leaving the house driving off in your motor car in which you knew there was a knife in order to find someone you thought might have been involved in the robbery to seriously injure that person with the knife you had.

"You took your revenge on a young man who was in no way involved in the robbery that had taken place. He has suffered greatly from the physical and psychological effects of the stabbing."

The court heard that the 17-year-old Albanian had suffered "genuine remorse" after the incident and his accomplice was making a "laudable effort" to learn English and some French since coming to Britain.

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