Thug left man feeling "like Quasimodo" after inflicting five-inch slash wound to face over neighbour dispute

Daniel Bradshaw, aged 51, inflicted the injury using a Stanley knife during a three-person struggle, arising out of an ongoing neighbour dispute between Bradshaw’s aunt and the complainant.

In a statement read to Sheffield Crown Court, the victim revealed that he has been left with a prominent, and permanent, facial scar.

As a result of the “disfigurement” he feels “like Quasimodo,” referencing the titular protagonist of French novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

He said that the scar has made him feel “insecure” about his appearance, something which continues to plague him on a daily basis.

The wound previously became infected, but it is now the cosmetic effect of the scar that continues to trouble him - six months on from the attack, the court heard.

A hearing held on May 15, 2025 was told that Bradshaw initially involved himself in the long-running dispute between his aunt and the complainant, who had been neighbours for years, by exchanging threatening messages with him.

Aaron Dinnes, prosecuting, said matters came to a head on November 3, 2024, when Bradshaw, of Fox Hill Crescent, Fox Hill, Sheffield, attended at the complainant’s home, who was present, along with a third male.

He initially attended armed with a white-handled kitchen knife, before leaving, discarding the blade, and returning with a Stanley knife.

The judge, Recorder Alexander Trent, told Bradshaw: “You attended at the complainant’s home with a Stanley knife. The complainant was waiting for you, and had a wooden implement, which he jabbed into you.

“The three of you struggled, and you ended up slashing him with the Stanley knife, leaving him with a five-inch, deep and unsightly wound to the face.”

After inflicting the slash wound, Bradshaw left the complainant’s home and threw a brick through his window as he walked away, Mr Dinnes told the court.

Bradshaw was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to four offences, including one count of wounding, two counts of possessing a knife blade or sharp pointed article in a public place and one count of criminal damage.

Bradshaw has racked up a criminal record spanning 82 previous offences, however the majority are for theft or associated offences. A robbery, dating back to 1994, is the only previous conviction borne out of violence, or the threat of it, on his record, the court heard.

Defending, Ian Goldsack said Bradshaw wishes to express his “remorse and regret.”

He referred Recorder Trent to a reference submitted to the court by Bradshaw’s mother, in which she detailed the efforts made by him to free himself of a heroin addiction which has blighted his life for years.

Mr Goldsack said it was noteworthy that Bradshaw responded well to a drug rehabilitation order passed down by the court in 2019, when he was given a non-custodial sentence.

He continued by saying Bradshaw continues to be supported by a number of people in his life including his parents, aunt, daughter, long-term partner and stepchild.

Bradshaw has been in custody on remand since the date of the attack six months ago, and in that time has worked hard to stick to the requirements of a prison drug treatment and testing programme, through which he has gained certificates, said Mr Goldsack.

Recorder Trent described the complainant’s injury as “grave” and jailed Bradshaw for 14 months.

He also granted a restraining order, prohibiting Bradshaw from contacting the complainant for a period of two years.