West Lothian thug jailed for stabbing man in back during street fight

A thug who stabbed a man in the back during a street fight in West Lothian has been jailed for two years.

Livingston Sheriff Court.

Neil Queen earlier pled guilty on indictment to assault to severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of life and a summary charge of theft by housebreaking.

He pled guilty to engaging in a fight with Michael Copeland before knifing him in the back.

Livingston Sheriff Court.

Queen, who lives in Park View, Fauldhouse, denied carrying an offensive weapon – namely a lock knife – during the incident claiming he had taken it from one of his attackers before using it to help him escape.

Glenn Fraser, defending, stressed that the use of the weapon had not been premeditated.

He said: “He didn’t have a knife with him that day. He was assaulted by three others and the attack lasted 15 minutes with Mr Queen on the ground.

“He only had the knife in his hand for one second and the wound was to the back of the person he stabbed. He did what he thought he needed to stop this sustained assault by people on him and get away.”

Passing sentence, Sheriff Douglas Kinloch told Queen he had pled guilty to one of the most serious charges which could be brought before a sheriff court – assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement and danger of life.

He said: “Your solicitor has argued for a non custodial sentence but for a stabbing with a knife which could have potentially killed the victim there is just no other sentence in my view than a custodial one.

“In a normal case of this sort I would have passed sentence towards the top of my sentencing powers of five years.

“But taking into account your claim, for which there’s independent support, that you were the victim of assault by three men, that the Crown specifically accepted that you didn’t go armed with a knife, that the scar was on the victim’s back and the victim did not die because he received hospital treatment I will reduce that sentence.

“You stabbed someone with a knife in the course of a fight and their life was initially at risk so the minimum sentence will be two years, which I will reduce by two months to take account of your plea of guilty which saved the cost of going to trial.”

The sheriff sentenced Queen to a further two months consecutive imprisonment on the theft by housebreaking charge, bringing the total sentence to two years.