Man (20) jailed after stabbing pair in the back during brawl

Man (20) jailed after stabbing pair in the back during brawl

15 July 2020

A NEWCASTLE man has been jailed for stabbing two men on a Christmas night out in the town.

Callum Cunningham (20), of Hunters Walk, last week received a sentence of three years and four months after he admitted the double wounding which happened after all three men had been drinking.

Cunningham was handed the sentence — of which he will serve 20 months in custody and 20 months on licence — by Judge Geoffrey Miller at a remote hearing of Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast.

He is due to be released next month as he has been on remand in custody since the incident.

Cunningham attacked the two males, aged 17 and 22, stabbing them both in the back on December 21, 2018.

The court heart that the two victims had been drinking in a bar from 6pm and that the attack happened after they stopped to urinate in an alleyway later that evening. 

They were spotted by a group of four other men who started to shout at them. A fight broke out after one of the group approached the two victims, with the 22 year-old being struck and receiving a split lip. 

A prosecutor said that as the man who was struck began to get the better of the other man in the fight, Cunningham become involved.

Judge Miller said that people who had been in Cunningham’s company said he had been “acting in an agitated manner” and that he “produced a knife”.

The court heard that Cunningham stabbed the 22 year-old in the lower back before wounding the 17 year-old.

Cunningham told police that he had been drinking alone and had consumed around 12-13 drinks before the incident.

Judge Miller said Cunningham’s guilty plea indicated he accepted responsibility for the attack and noted he had a “relevant record”.