Man given suspended sentence for screwdriver attack

A man who stabbed another man in the head and neck with a screwdriver during a street attack in Newport has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

James Walters, 33, launched the violent assault on Carl Wall, 43, as Mr Wall sat in the passenger seat of a car on Maesglas Crescent at around 9.30pm on Saturday, July 19 last year.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how Walters stabbed Mr Wall through the open car window before continuing the attack when the victim got out of the vehicle.

Prosecutor Jeffrey Jones told the court: “The complainant was obliged to punch out and they both ended up on the floor.

“There was a struggle, a tussle before another person appeared on the scene and punched the victim, knocking him out leaving him in the road flat out.”

Mr Wall was taken to the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, where he was treated for a puncture wound.

The court heard the assault took place after Mr Wall and the defendant’s brother, Gareth Green, had gone to Maesglas Crescent to buy cannabis. Walters had held a grudge against Mr Wall.

Walters pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon in public. He has 17 previous convictions for 37 offences, including affray and battery, and was jailed in 2020 for a drug trafficking offence.

His barrister, Byron Broadstock, told the court that Walters had already served the equivalent of a 14-month prison sentence after being remanded in custody following his arrest last summer.

“He had some sort of grievance with Mr Wall,” his lawyer explained. “But whatever that grievance was, it clearly does not justify his actions that day.”

Mr Broadstock added that while in custody, Walters had been unable to care for his elderly grandmother, who he lives with, and that the defendant has had “difficulties with drugs”.

Recorder Christian Jowett told Walters he had “lunged” at his victim with the screwdriver while he was helpless in the car.

He jailed the defendant for 18 months, suspended for 18 months. Walters was also ordered to complete an accredited programme and made subject to a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

A five-year restraining order was imposed, preventing Walters from contacting Mr Wall, and he must also pay a victim surcharge.