Sheffield man stabbed associate in face with a broken bottle in £10 argument

Glyn McNicholas was heard shouting: "I want my £10 - you owe me £10," outside the Post Office on Pitt Street, Barnsley, at 6pm, on May 29.

Witnesses saw him punch his victim in the head and body and ‘something glinting in his hand’, prosecutor Zaiban Alam told Sheffield Crown Court on August 14.

"It was only later she realised the jabs must have connected because she saw blood and cuts," said Ms Alam.

A ‘crunching sound’ was heard as the broken bottle connected and McNicholas said: “Do you want it again?”

A sharp piece of plastic was also used to stab the man, who was covered in blood and left with ‘multiple small lacerations to his face and the back of his head’.

Police officers found McNicholas at the bus station with blood on his hands.

When he was interviewed, he denied being involved and said he didn't recognise his victim when he was shown a picture of him. But the man did not cooperate with the police and it is not known what treatment he required.

The court heard he had a ‘very poor record’ dating back to 1995, featuring 103 offences of dishonesty, burglary and violence.

Andrew Smith, mitigating, said McNicholas was not armed in advance and used ‘street debris’ that he found at the scene.

"There is little mitigation in a case like this." he said. "He was on licence but was living rough. He has fallen into the cracks of the system.

"He says ‘I want to do better. I shouldn't have done this. I was not given any fair chance when I came out of custody’.”

McNicholas, aged 41, of St John's Road, Park Hill, Sheffield pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

Recorder David Gordon said it was ‘a sustained and serious assault’ and McNicholas has been recalled to prison until November. He sentenced him to 12 months in prison, of which he will serve half.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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